Introductions - My first post!

My name is Max. I will be 30 this year and have been interested in wine for almost the last 10 years. I  have several higher education degrees and i am currently a post-doctoral research associate in the UK. I am an enzymologist, or geek, if it you like. I'm not your average nerd though, i am capable of conversation with non-science folk and have other interests. I enjoy many sports,  historically, playing cricket and squash to a high level, and currently triathlons and other endurance events. I am married and have 2 cats and 2 dogs.

This blog should primarily be about my love of wine. I may diverge onto other subjects, but hopefully will return to wine. It's not my profession, just a hobby. I like drinking the stuff most of all, but i also enjoy reading about wine and learning everything about it too. I started by drinking wine i liked. Introduced to various types and styles by my parents and friends, i have been a wine drinker for as long as i can remember drinking booze of any kind. I like red wine more than white, however, i will mainly drink a wine paired with food, whatever that may be. It's also important to me that i drink a wine appropriate to a particular situation. While writing this, i am sat on the sofa at home, with the football on (i'm not a huge fan but its an international) and i'm drinking a cheap-and-cheerful 2008 red burgundian 'something' i picked up in the shops while buying bread today. Its very pleasant. Nothing special at all, but fitting.

So why a blog about wine? There are probably better sources of information on this subject on the internet. Decanter have good articles, Jamie Goode's wine anorak is good, the wine cellar insider is also a good free source. Other websites are better but require subsrciptions: Jancis robinson's purple pages and the wine doctor are just 2 at the top of my head. I used to really like Chris Kissack's web site, it's really informative but also impartial. He goes to great lengths to reassure the reader that it is always just his humble opinion!

Again then, why? Well i am a novice wine enthusiast (another good website, btw) and i am just starting on my big wine adventure. I decided to start a blog because i felt i could be of some help to individuals out there in a similar position to myself. In addition to this, i have a bad memory, and writing down the contents of my mind may help me remember it. it will also be logged should i forget! I have trawled the internet, bought and read books on wine, visited merchants and tasting sessions, all in an attempt to learn more. However, i still feel like everyone i talk to knows much more than i do about wine. This isn't really a bad thing, i can learn a lot from the well educated. Maybe i am just searching out the wrong people, but i haven't, yet, found other like-minded young people who have a similar interest in wine and are at a similar level of education as myself. I think they must be out there, doing what i do, trawling the internet, desperate for knowledge, but more importantly, desperate for help and advice!

Through these posts i hope i can share my experiences, successes and failures, and helps others on a similar path. They may already be doing the same thing and already know what i'm spouting about, but sometimes it's reassuring to know that you're doing the same as someone else.