Welcome to the Cellar Club ✨
It's time to reinvent your taste and enjoy wine with confidence.
A lot of growth happens in your 20’s. It’s that pinnacle time in life when you move from the mindset of teenager to adulthood. Maybe you finished college. Maybe you get your first big job, and then maybe you move up the corporate ladder. Maybe you find yourself with money that can now fund new types of hobbies. Maybe you invite someone into that life with you, a life partner or a fur baby or an actual baby. You feel like an adult in every sense of the word.
But when it comes to your taste in wine…you’re a fish out of water. You’re still picking up the same bottles you did in college, or choosing the second cheapest option on the menu so you don’t look like a complete and total loser.
I can help out with that.
After a decade working as a food and beverage journalist, I found myself with that same itch. I wanted more. I wanted good dinners and good bottles of wine, not cheap meal plans and two-buck-chuck. I wanted to develop my taste and my career. I wanted a life of sophistication. I wanted to understand how to read the f*cking wine label.
If this resonates with you, then you are in the right place.
Welcome to Cellar Club, an insider group of wine lovers who want to reinvent their taste and enjoy wine with confidence.
If you’ve been looking for a way into the world of wine without all of the snobbery and pretentiousness, consider this my invitation to you.
Do you want to start hosting dinner parties, but you have no idea what to cook or what bottles to pair?
Do you want to open a wine menu or walk into a shop and be able to browse without panic? Do you want to know what all of those terms actually mean?
Do you want to start going on actual adult vacations and explore cities or wine regions, with a curated list of cool spots to actually go to?
Are you ready to reinvent your taste and grasp the kind of life you’ve always wanted?
Do you want all of this…without the snobbery that follows wine wherever the industry goes?
Yes? Then this club is for you.
I paid thousands for a wine education. You’re getting it for $5/month.
While I loved my time at sommelier school, there’s no need to pay for it if you’re simply looking to level up your wine confidence. Instead, here’s what a paid Cellar Club membership will get you, only $5/month or $50/year.
Cellar Club Exclusive Content: Dive even deeper with your wine knowledge so you can order and buy with confidence. Bottle recommendations, types of wine to try, wine basics so you understand all of the terms…the list goes on and on, people.
Food & Wine Pairing Guides: Learn how to pair the wine you’re drinking with some of your favorite meals you love to cook, or even takeout. Pasta, burgers, sushi…we’re going to cover it all.
Seasonal Supper Club: Invite your friends over for a seasonal dinner party! Use this menu and wine pairing guide to throw the sophisticated dinner parties of your dreams.
Wine Travel Itineraries: Skip the random Instagram and ChatGPT guides on your next trip. These exclusive guides are from real experiences and guidance from yours truly.
Sommelier Inside Scoop: Join me at industry tastings, read the behind-the-scenes stories, sip on what I’m also drinking, and get the inside scoop as I continue in this new sommelier career.
Live Tastings & Classes: Learn how to properly taste wine and ask all of your burning questions with a real sommelier live, right here on Substack! There may even be opportunities to chat with winemakers and other cool industry folk in the future.
There’s already a lot of content to browse over in The Content Cellar!
Want to keep things free? Here’s what a free subscription includes.
Weekly essays: Get a taste of some practical education, recommendations, sommelier hot takes, easy quick pairings, “Wine of the Week” features, and other fun content from yours truly. This is your Saturday morning read.
Wine Challenge Monthly Explainers: If you are following along with the 2026 Wine Challenge, your monthly explainers will remain in the free subscription tier for the rest of the year.
Why me?
Hi! I’m Kiersten Hickman, a NYC sommelier and journalist! 👋🏼
After a decade of working as a food and beverage writer, I decided to switch up my career path. In March 2025, I received a Diploma in Wine, Gastronomy, and Management from Le Cordon Bleu London. (Equivalent to a Level 4 Diploma.) I am now working as a sommelier in New York City.
Before my somm days, I wrote for major publications such as The Kitchn, Simply Recipes, Taste of Home, Eating Well, Food & Wine, Reader’s Digest, Eat This Not That!, Business Insider, Stacker, Bustle, and much more.
I guess it’s safe to say that content and wine are sort of my thing.
So grab a glass, and let’s do this.
A little virtual cheers to you. I can’t wait to hang out in your inbox and over here on Substack. Let’s build your confidence and find you some delicious wine. 🫶🏼