The (Not So) Secret Wine Department!
Hey Wine Lover! I am so glad you found yourself here to the Secret Wine Blog. This blog is going to be fun, informative, adventurous, and explain the “secret” side of wine to make it not so secret. If you have any suggestions of what kind of blogs you want to see, send me an email or DM on instagram @thesecretwinedepartment! In the meantime, let’s dive into the reason behind the name change and why the change from the Non-Somm Somm (IYKYK) to the Secret Wine Department.
As some of you may know, I took some time off from instagram and blogging. To be honest, I had lost some passion for posting and was not as present on social media as a whole. The passion for wine always stayed though. When I decided to come back to blogging and instagram I felt like I needed a change in the name that aligned more with me now and the person I am! That’s where the Secret Wine Department comes in. I had a conversation at one of my favorite local restaurants one afternoon when I went for a drink to get out of the house. It being my favorite local restaurant meant that the bartender there had seen me many times before and we had some previous conversations regarding my passion for wine. On this particular afternoon, I had also struck up a conversation with the sommelier for the restaurant who was there as well and it took a turn into the wine world being more secretive. There’s a lot of mystery that goes into the testing process for somm’s and the reason for that is to make sure the people who enter this world (especially from a career stand point) are actually passionate about wine and want to pursue this because of that. This is how we got the secret part of the new blog and instagram. I should also note that this also helped me narrow down which route to go for wine. I ended up deciding to start my WSET Level 1 course! I am hoping to get through Level 3 with exciting things to come from that. The Wine Department was a small ode to one of my favorite artists: Taylor Swift. For the longest time I am not scared to admit that I was a Swiftie in denial. It was only after my Spotify wrapped came out that I had to accept my fate: I did indeed really enjoy Taylor Swift’s music. There was no denying that the woman has talent but I didn’t think I had the passion to be a true Taylor Swift fan. That was until I found myself listening to her music more than not as well as driving down with a friend to sit outside of Lincoln Financial Field and listen to her concert. While I am not a super fan, I definitely support the girl and love her songs so if you want to talk about this new album coming up, let your girl know!
A few other passions of mine, that will tie into this blog as well, are traveling, cooking, hosting and reading! I have been lucky enough to travel to many other states and countries and one of my favorite parts about that is planning an itinerary. Man do I loooooooove an itinerary. If you ask anyone who knows me or who has traveled with me, I plan. I plan things down to the time we need to leave and how long things will take us to travel from one activity to the next. There are people who are planners and then people who fly by the seat of their pants and while I am the former, I also have a spontaneous side that I love. Where I can plan I will but if someone wants to change something up or fill in the time we have randomly with something else, I am all here for it. I love adventure and because of that, I don’t get too picky for the unknown. My passion for food ties into that adventurous side as well. I have always been a creative mind in the kitchen and love trying new foods: whether cooking or eating out. I can follow a recipe but most of the time, it just sparks my inspiration and then I go rogue (not always but more often than not). This is also a huge reason why I love hosting. I love making a huge charcuterie board or some pasta and having the people I love come over to enjoy. Playing games, having some drinks and sharing some laughs are some of the best times in my opinion. When I am not hanging out with people, I love reading. I love diving into a mystery or romance novel and leave the world behind while I explore a great story. If you ever have any recommendations, let me know! I love trying a new book someone had recommended!
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about me and why we will now be embarking on this adventure as the Secret Wine Department. I promise to help open up the world of wine to you so it doesn’t feel as mysterious and you feel confident the next time your friends pulls out that interesting bottle of a red grape variety you’ve never heard of or when you go to pick a wine at a restaurant. All I want is to make you feel sure about the wine you choose and the wine you love and enjoy the learning process along the way!
Until next time wine lover, cheers!
Jordana
