Wine Forté is an independent Knoxville- based wine education and event company devoted to teaching you everything that you ever wanted to know about wine! Sipping, tasting, buying, swirling, pairing, and most importantly: drinking!
We offer private wine tastings and wine dinners at the comfort of your home, host wine events and educational wine series and are available to work with you to customize events to your needs.
Hi, my name is Maja Roy (pronounced “Maya”). I am a wine professional and sommelier with more than a decade of experience in teaching, pouring, sipping, guiding, and talking about wine. Ever since I was growing up among the vineyards and farms in rural Slovenia, I’ve spent my entire life immersed in wine and food preparation. A passion for artisanal grape growing and winemaking led me to move to Knoxville to earn my Master’s degree in Wine Geography at the University of Tennessee. With a strong foundation in hospitality and education, I have been cultivating wine education programs internationally with a focus on wines produced in a conscious manner by organic, biodynamic, natural artisans. I have recently moved back to Knoxville, Tennessee where I am now creating a new home base with my husband and our two-year old Kai. I am continuing to teach and connect with people who have a passion for high quality wine and food through my work as the freelance sommelier and retreat organizer behind the wine event company Wine Forté.
I am a photographer with an artistic journey spanning over a decade in everything from the music industry to high end commercial photography. My travel worldwide has led me to fall in love with natural wine and the history behind it. My passion is for the stories wine can tell and bringing those to life through photography and other forms of media. Whether that is through meeting producers and photographing their practice or documenting the fleeting energy of a party. My openness to new ideas and collaboration makes me a true artistic partner for anything involving wine and beyond.
Hi, I'm Delaney--a nurse by day and a wine-lover/food-fanatic/freelance writer by night. I grew up in a family that emphasized gathering around the table surrounded by good food, drink, and conversation. I strive to carry on that legacy in most aspects of my life today. Hospitality brings a joy and excitement to my heart like no other. Expanding my knowledge and experience with natural wines has only made me fall in love with hospitality more. A fun glass of wine, a colorful meal, and a table full of people is the way to my heart.
Wine Forté offers an independent wine education without a behind-the-scenes agenda of selling any particular wines. We will work hard to help you find wines that you like while guiding you and teaching you about consciously-produced wines from organic, biodynamic and natural wineries. If you aren’t able to find something you like during the courses and tastings, we will make sure to dive deeper into your palate and find something that you do!
Wine Forté was originally born from my passion for wines that I have been cultivating for more than a decade. Forté is a powerful word that translates into strength, specialty, strong point, to something that lifts you and pushes you forward. And this is what wine perhaps in an unusual way has presented in my life.
Despite the fact that I grew up in Slovenia where wine culture is deeply woven into our daily lives, it wasn’t until the end of college that I first started to develop an understanding and appreciation of wine. The story of how this love-affair started is painful and tragic but also beautiful and inspiring. It’s a story of finding strength and positivity in the midst of tragedy and hardship. And at the end it is a story about the celebration of life; of moments that we create and get to spend with loved ones and the good food and wine that enable us to elevate this experience.
Ten years ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Like many other families, this diagnosis hit ours so unexpectedly and shook us all to the depths of our beings. In the hope of finding a solution and cure, myself and the whole family embarked on a journey to follow a different lifestyle: introducing healthier habits and making high-nutrition diets part of our daily life. In order to prepare meals that followed the rigid diets my mom was pursuing, I was on the quest to find the highest quality and nutrition-rich ingredients. My grandmother has been practicing organic farming ever since I remember, so we were really fortunate to receive most of the ingredients from her. However, this wasn't enough. In order for me to find some more hard-to-find ingredients like organic cottage cheese, cold pressed grape seed oil and all kinds of healing herbs, I had to reach out to some organic and biodynamic farmers in the vicinity of our village.
I would never expect this to happen, but while I was visiting farmers and learning about their approaches to farming I began to develop a deep interest in the ways they were growing their food and most importantly, the way of slow and mindful living they were applying to their daily lives. Most of the farmers were also wine producers who, while I was visiting their farms, took me on the tour of their vineyards and wine cellars. Just by listening to their stories and observing the ways they interacted with nature, an awakening began to take place somewhere deep inside of me. I realized that the hardships of my mother’s disease that I experienced were offset by the therapeutic effects of the visits to the farms and the conversations I had with the farmers and winemakers.
On an unassuming day after months of chemo my mother unexpectedly had the strength to join me at Aci Urbajs winery. It was a gloomy and cold winter afternoon when we arrived to the winery. The fog was slowly creeping out of the forest covering the fields and gnarly hibernating vines covered in snow that were surrounding the house. Behind the wooden fence, horses were grazing, and there was Aci – the owner – petting them and waiting for us with a big smile on his face. After a short walk around the vineyards, he took us to his wine cellar; a dark, dimly lit place build under his old stone house. I felt so much excitement being surrounded by all these bottles and barrels, and I had so many questions that Aci wasn’t able to answer all of them.
We took a bottle of wine with us and went to the old house, thoughtfully preserved and renovated but still carrying the spirits of his ancestors. As we walked, Aci carried a basket with him. He set it on the table and – to our great surprise – pulled out a large wheel of cheese and home-baked bread, still warm from the oven. He opened the wine and poured my mom and I a glass. This wine was different. It felt so pure and spoke of the place where we were. It carried the soul of Aci and the character of the farm. I have never tasted anything like it before; the wine had deep substance, refreshing dimensions, and a unique texture. Nature’s vitality transformed itself seamlessly into the wine, and all seemed ethereal. It was a moment I will never forget: the moment when I realized that these kinds of wines exist, and that we have the privilege to taste and drink them. This moment was when my entire life snapped into focus and I became truly alive.
We spoke of wine and life long into the night. I was observing my mother’s face, how beautiful she was, tired of chemo and radiation but still incredibly beautiful and pure, just like the wine we were drinking. That evening I made the decision to learn more about these kinds of wines, how they are farmed and tended to, and what the farmers’ philosophies were.
I spent the next few months researching natural wineries in Slovenia and its surrounding countries. One by one, I visited them. My mother recognized my passion and encouraged me to switch the topic of my university thesis and instead write about organic winemaking in Slovenia. I knew immediately that she was right. When I started with the research she was my constant support as I was hers. She encouraged me and pushed me, while I took care of her dietary needs and gave her every bit of comfort that I could. Those months were the months of struggle and pain; they were also months of clarity, learning, beautiful conversations, and special moments that we shared with each other. Those were the months when I finally realized what I wanted to do with my life: work alongside incredibly talented winemakers to share their stories through their wines. I became a sommelier and pursed my graduate degree in wine geography.
My mami left us in September of 2015. No matter how much time passes I still feel the presence of her so strongly. Her courageous battle with cancer was an inspiration for me and so many others, but on a day-to-day basis it was a hard experience full of fear and despair. My sister and I poured all of our love and faith into her recovery. When she passed, I felt hollow, like there was nothing left of me. No strength, no courage, no hope, and no future. But in the process of grieving and healing I discovered a priceless gift that she bestowed upon me: an incredible reserve of strength and vigor. At those crucial moments when I wanted to give up on everything, I was able to reach within and access that reserve. It is that strength, that Forté, that is keeping me going, creating, and sharing my love of food, wine, and life with others.
Wine Forté is not only about wine, but wine represents that powerful force that continues to drive me. All of this started with wine. Through wine I rediscovered my passion for food, cooking, exploring, and finding new and exciting ingredients.
“Wine Forté is home to my cooking, gatherings, wine discoveries, wander guides, and recipes.”
Cooking and sharing delicious wines with people that love each other is the reason why I do what I do. It’s magic, happiness, home, sharing conversations, ideas, dreams, love, and laughter. It’s the appreciation of food, wine, and each other. I cherish these moments and live for them!
Love, Maja