This shot of Frenchko from kindergarten shows her long before she discovered her love of wine and everything that goes with it.
Amy Frenchko is a Kingston native, mom, wife, sommelier and wine importer present time. This is the introduction to her new column, Amy’s Winehouse, covering — what else? — wine.
I am a graduate of WVW High School, attending PSU for 10 minutes. I slept on every girlfriend’s couch trying to figure out my life. I picked up my life, packed it into a Nissan Sentra (Sally Sentra) sometime in the 90s and drove to Oregon. This adventure scared me, pushed me out of my comfort zone and ended up teaching me independence, strength, what not to do and learning how to get up after you fail.
While in Oregon I realized I was not a hippy, hated stinky armpits and needed to wear mascara. I traveled the West Coast touring with a punk band (DON’T ASK). The experience traveling across country and stopping in every state gave me a feeling I could not get in a classroom.
My next journey led me to a small southern town on the coast of South Carolina where I stayed put for years and found my love was wine and food. AND THE BEACH! Ladies, wear sunscreen while you are young; trust me! This will cost you lots of money in corrective laser treatments. I worked in the fine-dining restaurant industry on the grand strand.
My roots are in NEPA; my family has Irish and Polish heritage. I moved home near my family as I was blessed by the universe with my baby girl and needed her to grow up with my family. Also, let’s face it: NEPA has the best pizza, wings, pierogi, and $1 drafts. These are reasons to come back! Settling back into The Valley, as we call it, I landed at igourmet.com. I learned and grew with this company contributing to all things wine and cheese traveling all over the U.S. for wine shows.
During my years, I learned the ins and outs of the gourmet food space and ate more cheese and serrano ham than you can imagine. In the middle of this I worked for a vineyard, opened a women’s and men’s clothing store and raised my little girl with the help of the lovely ladies in my family.
My tenacious, entrepreneurial spirit, sense of humor and relentless pursuit to share my love of wine lead to my current endeavor, The Northeast Wine Company. I specialize in European Wines that have not been in the U.S. market. There are so many grape varietals in the world; why do we only drink a handful of them? I like to expose people to new things and explore what is out there. My priority is to always be happy, and enjoy every second of my journey through this life. Sharing this and making an impact on someone’s day with a great undiscovered bottle of wine and my happiness.
My goal for this column is to share wine that pairs with life, fashion, travel and food. I will guide you how to host and entertain with wine, tell you about trends and share who inspires me. We will talk about what is the best song to listen to while having a glass of Rioja, the best pair of jeans that go with Champagne and what outfit to wear while drinking chianti. Also, how to pick wine from the best online shops and how to read a wine label.
The pandemic is coming to a close and we need to celebrate life with good wine! The wine industry in 2020 was booming with U.S. products, European imports took a hit. Now there is nowhere to go but up!!!
Amy Frenchko is a mom, wife, sommelier and wine importer who is the national sales director for The Northeast Wine Company. Read “Amy’s Winehouse” monthly for the latest trends in wine and all that relates to it. Contact her at amy@tnewc.com.
