Jody Ames / Founder

The first wine I remember drinking was Louis Jadot Beaujolais Village... it was a perfect beginner’s wine. The rest, as they say, was history.

BEGINNINGS I became truly excited about wine when I started working at Learned Club in Kansas. It was the first time I was exposed to a wine program and I loved watching them curate the list and taste. I loved to talk to the guests and try and pick the perfect wine for them.  It was a game that I played with myself.  How many tables could I get to buy wine on my recommendation?

Eventually I left and moved on to the other places and held titles as the restaurant manager and assistant wine buyer. Suddenly I was tasting and learning about wines on a regular basis with wine salespeople. Michel Guth was an amazing rep that took the time to educate me on flavor profiles, regions, etc. I knew then that I wanted to do what he did.  He helped me get a job at Heritage Wine Cellars, IL.

INSPIRATION I was profoundly inspired by the founder of Heritage Wine Cellars, Jerry Hirsch. He had voracious appetite for knowledge and was devoted to the education of wine. He encouraged me to feel, smell, see and taste as many wines as possible— to travel and explore the wine regions of the world. He believed that through traveling you would learn more about the wine. Feel the breeze, smell the earth, truly understand its terroir. I would sit in his office watching slide after slide from all the wine regions of the world he had visited—his stories would transport me into the slide. He was kind and intelligent and always took time for me. He sparked something in me that, to this day, I continue to be intrigued and inspired by people, cultures and cuisines as well as the sensory aspects of wine — the smell, touch, and feel.