From Nanny to Wine Brand Owner: How La Chancla Wines Was Born with Raquel Gomez

What does a chancla have to do with wine? Everything, it turns out.

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Raquel Gomez, co-owner of La Chancla Wines - a Latina-founded, Texas-based wine brand rooted in culture, community, and a whole lot of corazón. Just three years ago, Raquel had never tasted straight wine. Today, she's got bottles in AT&T Stadium suites, a partnership with Ready Vineyards, and a growing line of blends designed specifically for palates shaped by tamales, pozole, and abuela's guisos.

Raquel's story is one of trust, hustle, and saying yes when opportunity knocks...even when you don't feel ready. From helping manage a household to leading the sales team that landed a spot at Central Market's 30th anniversary dinner, her journey is proof that you don't need to be a sommelier to change the wine industry. You just need to believe in the product, show up for your community, and know that the name La Chancla will stop people in their tracks.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How Raquel went from never drinking wine to co-owning a wine brand in just 3 years
• The kitchen-table moment when the name "La Chancla" was born
• Why the bottle features a fox holding flowers instead of an actual chancla
• Designing a wine for Latiné palates — fruit-forward, semi-sweet, and sangria-adjacent
• The food pairings that work: tamales, pozole, guisos, birria tacos & lengua
• How La Chancla landed in the suites at AT&T Stadium (Cowboys Stadium)
• Being a Latina woman breaking into a male-dominated wine sales world in Texas
• Upcoming expansion: a white blend ("Blanco") and new red varietals
• Why clean wines mean waking up ready to work the next morning
• The power of immigrant work ethic and what it means to build something for your comunidad

Guest Info:

• Raquel Gomez — Co-Owner, La Chancla Wines
• Based in Dallas, TX | Originally from Monclova, Coahuila, México
• Website: lachanclawine.com
• Discount Code: chisme1on1 for Wine & Chisme listeners
• Ships nationwide across the USA