Vanessa Phillips
Key Collaborator
Vanessa Phillips grew up around the rolling wheat fields of Kansas, where vineyards were about as foreign as the destinations she dreamed of visiting. While studying Accounting at the University of Kansas, she found herself working in hospitality, eventually discovering that her favorite part of the job wasn’t the numbers—it was the people.
Vanessa’s wine journey began when she was asked to build an eight-glass wine list for a small, family-owned restaurant in Lawrence, Kansas. Always giving her all to a project, it’s no surprise that what started as research quickly became an obsession: learning about the wines, the people behind them, and the regions they came from, felt like traveling the world through the pages of a book. Being raised in a family of storytellers, it was only natural that Vanessa’s ability to share her discoveries came was automatic. Before long, she traded Kansas for Nashville to begin her first sommelier role.
Over the past decade, Vanessa has built a career spanning nearly every sector of the wine industry—from service to wine production, wholesale to private client sales, to opening a 60,000-square-foot venue in Washington, D.C. with a 500-bottle wine program and even owning her own wine boutique during the tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vanessa comes to Cultivamos after building relationships with Ben and Erin over the years, and joining them on a supplier trip to Portugal in 2018 changed everything for her: it was her first trip outside of the US! Captivated by the country’s warmth, culture, and sense of hospitality, she knew she had found a place that felt like home. After leading marketing for a national wine importer, joining Cultivamos felt like the natural next chapter, bringing together her passion for Portuguese wines with her belief that great wine is ultimately about connecting people.
Known for her Midwest warmth and ability to make anyone feel at ease, Vanessa believes that relationships always come first. Whether she’s introducing someone to their first Portuguese wine or working alongside trade partners across the country, her goal is simple: help people feel welcome, cared for, and excited to discover something new.
Outside of work, you’ll usually find Vanessa singing show tunes in her kitchen, baking pies for friends, advocating for greater inclusivity in clothing, or traveling with her faithful companion—a tiny stuffed “Travel Penguin” that’s accompanied her on adventures around the world.