John Antognoni is a professional wine consultant working and living in the Boston area. His love affair with wine began fifteen years ago while he was still a teenager. He has consulted for many clients over the years including private collectors, retail outlets, and restaurants. His latest wine adventures include this website and he is currently working on a book that will be published later this year. If you are interested in contacting John to consult on your large or small wine project, follow this link.

Welcome to the Wine Hobbyist! I am so excited that you have decided to join me on my latest wine adventure. I am very proud of this website and I could not have completed it without the help of my friends, family, and especially my wife, Judy. I hope that you will come back and check out theWineHobbyist.com on a regular basis. I plan on updating the content on a very consistent basis. I will be adding new articles, wine tips, and tasting notes every week. In addition to my own ideas, I welcome valuable content from my readers. If you are interested in contributing to theWineHobbyist.com, please feel free to submit your articles, wine tips, and tasting notes by email.

Since we are going to be spending some time together, I would like to tell you a little more about myself. First let me say that, "I am looking forward to getting to know all of my readers, and I want you to know that I will do my best to personally respond to all of your emails." So, without further introduction, Here is a short autobiography…

I first became interested in wine when I was fourteen years old and tried my very first sip of wine. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was offered a sip of a 1984 Burgess Zinfandel, and in that one moment, my life was changed forever. I remember thinking, "Wow, what an amazing sensation this is." I could not describe it then, but I realize now, that I was experiencing the joy of drinking a great wine. For days I could not stop thinking about how much I enjoyed that single sip of wine.

From that moment on, I have spent countless hours learning about, tasting, and working around wine. Most of my knowledge base is self-taught. I have had a few classes here and there, but for the most part, I am a self made wine expert. By the time I finished college, I had tasted and taken notes on more than 2000 different wines, including many Grand Cru Burgundies, all the classified wines of Bordeaux, the best of Napa and Sonoma, and many more. I have read all the wine literature you can imagine, traveled to many of the World's great wine regions, and I have been a serious wine collector for the past ten years.

More recently, I have been blessed with the opportunity to consult for many wonderful people. I have helped build private wine collections, designed restaurant wine lists, and been involved in wine retail and importing. Every aspect of these experiences has been rewarding and enjoyable, but the one aspect that I always enjoyed the most was educating people about wine. It is my love for wine education that has lead me to my latest endeavor.

My considerable wine experiences have filled my head with lots of ideas and information and my heart is filled with a deep passion for wine. I want to combine my passion and knowledge through this website. I want to “spread the word” and help countless individuals bring their enjoyment and interest for wine to the next level. I do not presume to know everything there is to know about the subject, and as I said previously, I am looking forward to learning even more in the coming years from my dedicated readers, as well as teach what I have come to know.

Thank you again for checking out the Wine Hobbyist. Thank you for sharing my passion and my dream. Check back often, we are just going to get bigger and better.

John visiting California Wine Country in 1998

John piloting a Piper Tomahawk from East Coast Aero Club over Nashoba Valley Winery, in Bolton Massachusetts, 2004