Wine is Fun and for Everyone

Red or white? Yes.
Rosé or orange? Also yes.
Sparkling? Absolutely.

Hi! I’m Dana Van Nest, your new wine coach.

If your go-to wine order is “red, I guess?” then you and I have some incredibly enjoyable times ahead of us.

There are too many amazing wines out there for you to choose the second cheapest bottle on the wine list and hope it doesn’t suck. We can do better.

A little wine knowledge is a valuable social and business skill, as well as being super fun. Let’s get you comfortable with a wine list and conversant in fundamental wine terms.

My wine goals for you

I want to you be able to read the wine list in a restaurant, understand what it says, and pick a glass or bottle that you would enjoy drinking.

When you are at the grocery store, you’ll soon be able to find the section of wines that you like and confidently pick out a bottle for dinner or to bring to a party.

Are you taking clients out to dinner? I’ll help you figure out wines to order for the table.

I will share the foundational wine knowledge with you so you can make informed drinking and purchasing decisions.

But let’s be clear: wine is FUN. It’s an enhancement to your meal, a sigh of contentment when you settle down after a long day, and a celebratory “cheers!” when you meet up with your favorite people.

contact me

Dana Van Nest, WSET 3

I started my wine education by taking a copy of “Wine for Dummies” to wine shops to read labels and try to figure out what they said. For real.

From there, I explored grape varieties and started honing my preferred flavor profile. I learned about wine regions locally and around the world. In 2019, I decided to professionalize my wine knowledge and began taking classes at Northwest Wine Academy and Napa Valley Wine Academy as well as working weekends in a tasting room.

As my skills and connections grew, I began writing for Sip Magazine and Great Northwest Wine. I have served as a Chief Judge at Great Northwest Wine’s Cascadia and Invitational wine competitions, as well as judging for Sip’s annual Best of the Northwest wine competition and the Pacific Northwest Wine Competition.

I hold a WSET Level 3 with merit and am certified as an American Wine Scholar. I am proud to sit on the board of the Alliance of Women in Washington Wine.

I also work as a copywriter and communication business strategist, helping organizations (wine and otherwise) to bring their values into their voice. My comms website is www.danavannest.com.

Wine Coaching