About Jody Lopke

I came to wine through food.

I grew up in an Italian family where the dinner table was at the centre of everything. Food was how we gathered, celebrated and connected. Wine was simply part of that experience, and my father even made his own as a hobby. I did not know then that wine would eventually become my profession, but I understood very early that a good meal was about far more than what was on the plate. It was about bringing people together.

My first career was as a registered dietitian. Much of my work involved helping people navigate dietary restrictions while still finding joy in eating. I never wanted food to become something people feared or simply viewed as a list of rules. Even when there were limitations, I wanted people to understand that food could still be pleasurable, social and something worth looking forward to.

Then I had five children in five years and made the decision to step away from my profession to raise my family. When my children grew older and began building lives of their own, I was ready for a new chapter.

That chapter became wine.

Today, I am the Wine Director at Devlin’s Country Bistro, and I have to admit, this career is a lot more fun. I spent much of my first career telling people what they should not drink. Now I get to tell them what they should drink, in moderation of course, and help them choose the glass that will make the food on their plate taste even better.

That is what fascinates me most about wine. The right glass can completely change the way we experience a dish. Acidity can brighten it. Tannin can bring structure. Fruit, texture and savoury flavours can draw out elements of the food that might otherwise go unnoticed. When the pairing is right, neither the food nor the wine needs to compete. They simply make each other better.

My work at Devlin’s is about finding those wines, building a thoughtful wine list, creating pairings, planning WineClub selections and events, and helping people discover something they may not have chosen for themselves.

I do not believe wine should ever feel intimidating. One of my goals with WineClub is to make wine education enjoyable and approachable, so that knowledge grows naturally over time. I want people to understand a little more about what is in their glass, why a wine tastes the way it does, where it comes from and why it works with certain foods, without ever making it feel like a lesson.

The more you understand wine, the more interesting it becomes. But you do not need to know everything to enjoy it. My hope is that each bottle, tasting and conversation adds another small piece, and before long, people realize they know far more about wine than they thought they did.

In many ways, I have come full circle. I grew up around an Italian table where food, wine and family naturally belonged together. Today, I get to create that same kind of experience for other people: a wonderful meal, the right glass of wine, and a reason to stay at the table just a little bit longer.