One of the most remarkable experiences of my career in wine took shape during the 2020 lockdowns. For more than 52 weeks, with just a few breaks, I led virtual wine dinners every Thursday night for Roma restaurant in Houston. Those events were what kept the restaurant financially afloat — and what kept food on all of our tables — during the seemingly unending challenges of the pandemic.

But something else happened as well, something truly magical. Through these digital gatherings on Zoom, we created a community of Italian food and wine lovers who found comfort in our shared culinary passion as the world outside seemed to be falling apart — literally. By the summer of 2020, we regularly had 80-90 guests attending virtually each week. The friendship and culinary camaraderie we shared was something that I’ll never ever forget. It showed, once again, how food and wine can transcend their roles as nutritional and aesthetic pleasures.

When the lockdowns began in March 2020, I had worked as a media manager for Roma for more than two years, running the restaurant’s website and social media. But the restaurant’s founder, my good friend and Houston restaurant veteran Shanon Scott, had never even considered me working on the wine list with him. His thought was, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But then, after he had watched me lead more than 50 or so of these events, which also included an Italian winemaker joining us from Italy at 2:30 in the morning, I approached Shanon about me helping out with the program. By May of this year, we had agreed that I would become the restaurant’s wine director as of June 1.

On Tuesday of last week, we debuted our new list and program. And by Saturday night, there was a bottle of wine on every table — something that had never happened before at Roma. Our goal is to make the restaurant the leading Texas destination for Italian wine by 2021’s end.

Tomorrow night, I’ll be hosting a free (yes, free!) Amarone tasting at the restaurant at 6 p.m. (Wednesday, June 20). And then I’ll be pouring and chatting tableside with guests throughout the night. Please join me!

Just shoot me an email at jeremy [at] romahouston.com if you’d like to attend the event. Thank you for your support. I hope to see you tomorrow or at one of the many wine tastings and dinners — in-person and virtual — that we have planned for coming months.