Through her culinary experiences working as sommelier, Wanda Cole-Nicholson has been inspired to create pairings that showcase the complexities of different cuisine. She has crafted and implemented beverage list and wine and spirits training programs. Her education includes Advanced Sommelier Certification from The Court of Master Sommeliers and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Missouri in Spanish. She plans to sit for the Master Sommelier exam in 2018.
She has been fortunate to have worked for many of Chicago’s world class establishments and institutions including ¡Salpicón!, Kendall College, Mercat a la Planxa, NaHa, and BR Guest Restaurants.During her tenure at Salpicon the restaurant received awards under her leadership including the following: Wine spectator Best of Award of Excellence, Award of Ultimate Distinction from Wine Enthusiast, and Dirona award of Excellence.
In October of 2009 she created Vinterpretation offering wine consulting, education, and event planning. After several years of working multiple facets of the business with experience in tow, she was inspired to continue the next phase of her career via the creation of Dallas-based VinBev. When not working or studying she spends much of her free time traveling and tasting wines from all over the world, as well as educating others on the joy of wine.