Jane Lopes, Legend Australian Wine Imports

Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee East), S’atsoyaha, Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee) land – Nashville, Tennessee

https://legendaustralia.com, @auswinelegends

Jane Lopes is a Nashville-based sommelier, author, and importer. She has worked at New York's Eleven Madison Park, Nashville's The Catbird Seat, Chicago's The Violet Hour, and most recently as the wine director at Attica, one of Australia's most celebrated restaurants. Jane was featured on Esquire network's 2015 television series Uncorked, which follows six New York City sommeliers in pursuit of the Master Sommelier title (which Jane attained in 2018). In September of 2019, Jane finally put her University of Chicago literature degree to good use in publishing her first book, a personal and educational guide to wine called Vignette: Stories of Life and Wine in 100 Bottles. In 2020, Jane and her husband Jonathan Ross co-founded their own Australian wine imports company: Legend. Jane’s second book, How to Drink Australian (co-authored with her husband), will publish in September 2023. Jane serves on the board of 501(c)(3) The Vinguard, which works to promote equity, social justice, and environmental reform in the wine industry.

Social Justice and Enviromental Restoration Statement:

When we founded Legend in July of 2020, we launched it alongside a set of values that we wanted to define our business, based on the following pillars: education; diversity, equity & inclusion; beneficial partnerships; addressing bias & conduct; environmental impact; and community. In the past two and half years, we’ve lived up to these values in many ways (and we’ve fallen short as well), but more than anything we’ve reaffirmed that these are values worth fighting for. We’ve also released two annual accountability reports so far —a way for us to stay accountable to our customers, our partners, and ourselves. We hope to encourage an open dialogue and see this as a lifelong commitment toward a better world and industry.