"More than just a beverage, wine is a powerful link to history and culture. Never boring, there is always something new to learn about wine. Wine opens up the world and has the power to bring people together. Why not make everyday a celebration with a beautiful glass of wine?" says Wanda Mann, founder & editor-in-chief of Wine With Wanda.
Wanda joined the team of the prestigious wine industry publication, The SOMM Journal, as a Contributing Editor in the summer of 2020; she was promoted to East Coast Editor in 2021. She is also the East Coast Editor for The Tasting Panel. Her writing has also been published in Food & Wine, Decanter, VinePair, and NAPA Magazine.
In 2022, Wanda was invited to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen to lead the seminar "Sweet & Salty: Chocolate & Cheese with Wine". Both sessions of the seminar were sold-out and received rave reviews in The Aspen Daily News and The Aspen Times. Wanda served as an associate judge at Wine Without Walls in Verona, Italy in 2022.
Wanda’s energetic and insightful Instagram Live interviews with winemakers and other industry professionals have developed a loyal following. In 2022, she moderated the keynote discussion for the tenth annual Women In Wine Leadership Symposium.
Always on a quest to learn more about wine, in 2015 Wanda earned the Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) credential from the Society of Wine Educators and has traveled to numerous wine regions, including Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, and Argentina. In 2017, Wanda served as a judge at the Napoli Wine Challenge at the Vitigno Italia wine festival in Naples. Also in 2017, Wanda was inducted as a Cavaliere into the il Sovrano e Nobilissimo Ordine dell’Amarone e del Recioto.
In 2017, Wanda was featured in a prominent wine-themed ad campaign for Stainmaster where she shared, in her own words, her passion for wine.
Content from The Black Dress Traveler was syndicated on The Daily Meal from 2015-2018 and Wanda’s travel advice has been quoted in the New York Daily News and EBONY Magazine. In 2022, Wanda was elected president of Les Dames d'Escoffier New York.
A native New Yorker and Manhattan resident, Wanda enjoys exploring the world of wine in her hometown by attending numerous tastings and classes. As a student, Wanda spent her junior year of high school in Barcelona, Spain with the School Year Abroad program. Her junior year of college was spent in Toledo, Spain studying at the Fundación Ortega y Gassett. She still dreams of living in España for at least 3 months each year. Wanda is a proud graduate of Phillips Academy (Massachusetts) and Pomona College (California) and her taste in wine has improved dramatically since her college days!