Retirement plans can often take unexpected turns.
For Tammy de Weerd, who served as mayor of Meridian for 16 years, a retirement of speaking engagements and consulting shifted with one glass of wine.
“My husband and I have been traveling the world by wine region for the last two-and-a-half decades,” she said. “And we were sitting in South Africa at an old winery, and we were drinking an incredible wine that had an inspiring story. And my middle daughter, she had known that we wanted to do something with our knowledge of wine and our passion for wine, said, ‘You really need to bring these stories to life through video.’ And that was actually when our vision for our Spoken Wines business venture was born.”
Highlighting wines each month from wineries across the world and closer to home, Spoken Wines connects wine enthusiasts with importers to try new vintages.
“We're just really excited to get people more enthusiastic about wine,” de Weerd said. “And the more they know about wine and the story behind it, it makes those wines extra special. It's not just liquid in the glass. There's history, there's people's lives, there're trials and triumphs.”
De Weerd is aided in bringing the wine to life by husband Jan de Weerd, a retired horticulturalist, and two of her four children – one daughter in South Africa, and another in the Netherlands.
“That's been really fun, being able to work with our kids on a project like this,” de Weerd said.
De Weerd handles the videography for their YouTube and Instagram accounts, Jan de Weerd handles the importers and offers perspective on how the soils and climate affect the grapes, and everyone samples the wine.
“They’re all my favorites,” de Weerd said. “I’ll probably have a favorite with every winery we’re highlighting. I heard a sommelier say, ‘Don’t blame the grape if you don’t like that wine. You might not like that region.’ So, never discount a wine. Just find a new region and explore there.”
Featured wineries have included Hells Canyon Winery in Idaho and Aaldering in South Africa, where Spoken Wines started. De Weerd said their travels to hunt for new wineries so far have taken her and Jan to France, Mexico, South Africa, and Australia. They’ve also got plans for winery tours in Argentina and Chile.
“People around the world are coming together around the table, and food and wine are equally important,” she said. “It's where conversations are had and where people can find common ground. And that's what we really appreciate, is to bring these different cultures and these different stories to people to show that, around the world, we have commonalities.”
De Weerd’s life isn’t solely devoted to wine though. Two of her children live in the Treasure Valley, along with 10 of her 11 grandchildren.
“One of the reasons I retired was so I could better connect with my kids and my grandkids,” she said. “And having daughters on different continents makes it even more interesting trying to keep connected. That's a great thing about the Spoken Wines business, it's really helped connect us in a whole different way.”
When not sipping wine, globetrotting, or telling vintners’ stories, de Weerd can be found still helping her beloved community. Projects have included board positions with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Ada County, the Merdian Chamber, and Meridian’s Urban Renewal Agency.
“I do stay involved in Meridian,” she said. “It is still my home. It still is where my passion is. And it always will be.”
"...the more they know about wine and the story behind it, it makes those wines extra special. It's not just liquid in the glass.”
