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.”
What began as a passing idea over a glass of wine has since grown into something more defined.
Through Spoken Wines, de Weerd highlights new wines and the stories behind them, drawing from both global wine regions and those closer to home.
“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.”
For de Weerd, that idea extends beyond wine. Her perspective on storytelling has also been shaped by more personal experiences, including co-authoring a book about her daughter’s unjust detention overseas, a journey she shared in a previous Boise Lifestyle feature.
After years spent helping shape one of Idaho’s fastest-growing cities—guiding economic development, infrastructure, and community spaces—her focus has shifted.
De Weerd is aided in bringing the work 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, while Jan works with importers and offers perspective on how soils and climate affect the grapes. 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 first took shape. Their travels in search of new wineries have taken them to France, Mexico, South Africa, and Australia, with plans for Argentina and Chile.
Sometimes those stories are closer to home. A conversation with a local vintner led the de Weerds to Rolling Hills Vineyard in Garden City, where a family-run operation mirrored something familiar—parents and children working side by side, each with a role to play. Other Idaho wineries they’ve featured, including Cinder, Telaya, and others across the Snake River Valley, reflect a similar spirit of collaboration and shared growth within a young but evolving wine region.
“It’s where conversations are had and where people can find common ground,” she said. “People around the world are coming together around the table, and food and wine are equally important.”
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 been a great part of the Spoken Wines work, it’s really helped connect us in a whole different way.”
When not traveling or telling vintners’ stories, de Weerd continues to invest in the community she once led—remaining involved with local organizations and initiatives that helped shape Meridian’s growth over the past two decades.
“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.”