Hi, my name is Ron DiLauro, I was born on December 24, 1950 in Jamaica Hospital, Queens, New York. 
I grew up in an all Italian family living in Floral Park, Long Island.
My interest in wines started at an early age. Wine was part of the daily routine in my family. Wine was served at every meal, and I remember even as a child of 10, I was allowed to have a 
small sip of wine with the meal . I remember tasting wine that my grandfather made in the basement, plus I always remember seeing those gallon jugs of Cucamonga. in the cabinets or on the table.
When I was 18, getting ready for college,
the wines of choice were quite simple: Boones Farm Apple WIne, Ripple, Mateus, Lancer’s Rose and Lambrusco
After I graduated from college, I started working at one the largest wine retail stores on Long Island.
Steward Liquors in Stewart Manor, LI. The store had a large selection of French, German and Italian wines. These were all kept in a temperature controlled room that was separate from the rest of the store. During the early 1970’s, most liquor stores carried a 80% to 20% ratio in liquor to wine. That was the era of the cocktails, the cordials and perhaps some jug wines from California or New York. This store had a 50-50% in terms of liquor and wine. This was quite unique during that time.
I was very fortunate to learn all about wines from a former sommelier. He spent time teaching me all the different things I needed to know about wine. The different wines, grapes, styles, winemaker, aging, bottling and much more. And of course he taught me how to taste and judge wines and to identify and understand the various traits of each wine. . After we closed the store, we would generally open a bottle or two of wine and spend time analyzing everything about it. 
He insisted I took notes about everything we discussed and tasted.
After several years, my wine knowledge increased. I read book
after book on wines, the types, the grapes, how it was made, etc. I made a point in tasting at least 8 wines a week, always 2 at a time. Each week, I would change the type. Bordeaux one week, then on to Burgundies and thru much of the French wine regions. I also made a point and tasting wines from Germany , Italy and Spain. At that time, there really wasnt much to taste regarding wines from United States. I still have all my tasting notes from tasting all those wines.
The sommelier passed away and the I became the wine person at the store. At that point, I had a excellent working and technical knowledge of all wines. The one problem I ran into, was that it was difficult for some older customers to take me serious or accept my discussions. Looking back, I guess it was pretty difficult for people to look at a young 22 boy with long hair as being a wine expert. Over time, that all changed and my reputation grew.
In 1972, I was selected as the President of the Les Ami Du Vin
Chapter in Long Island. Part of my responsibilities were to organize various wine tastings at different locations. My highlight was organizing a 5 day trip to France, visiting Paris, the Champagne country and a few Bordeaux Chateaus. One of our missions , which our French counterparts were aware of, was that we were there looking to purchase some wine futures. Keeping that in mind, we were treated royally, banquets, wine flowing, all types of food and cheese. It was a time I still remember vividly.
I left that environment in 1974 to join IBM
and to start a family. While I was working for IBM, I still kept very close to wines. I continued to read and research about wines. I ran many private home wine tastings and still was always looking for those right wines to purchase.
When I retired from IBM, I sort of went back to my roots and worked as a wine manager at a local wine retail shop. 
I worked there for about 5 years. I spent most of my time there educating customers about wine, running wine tastings and helping customers select the perfect wine for them. Unfortunately, because of several surgeries, I was advised to stay off my feet. I am a wine manager needs to be on the floor, so being a cashier was not for me.
I had been volunteering for Spine-Health company since 2006. I originally joined since I was a chronic pain patient and had already had 12 spinal surgeries and was doing research. In 2008, I became one of their moderators and in 2015, I signed on as a 1099 contractor for 
Veritas-Health LLC
Wine has been such a big part of my lifes history . I still remember tasting that first sip of wine when I was 10 years old. One of the folks I chat with on Instagram were talking about how nice it would be just to write about anything wine related or not. That got me thinking. I had put together a blog talking about my life as a chronic pain patient. That had a lot of detail, but quite frankly, since I live it, the blog was pretty depressing.
So here it is, Carpe Vino, Seize the Wine
Hope you find some of what I’ve put in here interesting, perhaps not, but its just me writing about what comes natural.
