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<h2>A Cellar Rat's Journey</h2>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">From tasting room to Cellar Master........a cellar rat’s journey.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I grew up in Pennsylvania but I have been coming to Finger Lakes all my life.&nbsp; As a kid my family would bring me and my two older sisters to the Finger Lakes for months at a time in the summer.&nbsp; I learned to swim in the waters of Seneca, climbed the many waterfalls, got cut by zebra mussels, boating, fishing, hiking...I learned it all in the Finger Lakes.&nbsp; As you can probably guess, I love this area.&nbsp; I went to school for years studying information technology and psychology.&nbsp; After a lot of money and time I realized that this was not the life I wanted.&nbsp; I wanted to be outside getting dirty, I wanted to be so tired that at the end of the day I wouldn't care that I smelled bad.&nbsp; I also wanted to be surrounded by caring people.&nbsp; I found all of that in the Finger Lakes. <img class="size-medium wp-image-5212 alignright" src="https://rednewt.com/wp1/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/image000000-300x225.jpg" alt="James working in snow" width="300" height="225"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I decided it was time for a change I came to the Finger Lakes and started to apply to the wineries.&nbsp; One of the first wineries I worked for back in 2009 was Red Newt.&nbsp; I started in the tasting room having a phenomenal time with the people coming to enjoy the Finger Lakes.&nbsp; After showing interest, I was quickly tried out in the cellar.&nbsp; It was immediately clear that I was born to be a cellar rat.....I was hooked.&nbsp; Since then I have been working in wine cellars in the Finger Lakes .&nbsp; I worked for Red Newt for a couple of years and then in 2015 I moved to Fox Run for a harvest.&nbsp; I then moved to Lamoreaux Landing 2016 and did a harvest there.&nbsp; However, I still missed Red Newt, and in 2017 I found myself back at their doors asking to work with the same people who made me fall in love with this industry and this gorgeous region.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;And I have been a happy Red Newt-er ever since..............</span></p>