Meet Michaela Hightower
Certified Sommelier, Speaker, Teacher, Consultant
For Colorado Springs native, local business professional and entrepreneur, Michaela Hightower, the saying “If you love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life” couldn’t be more true. Combining her passion for people with her love of teaching, Michaela strives to make learning about wine and spirits fun for everyone.
Whether she is working one on one with a client, teaching a group of bartenders or speaking at an event, Michaela understands that some people may feel intimidated by the vocabulary, sheer number of choices, and prices of wine and spirits. To that end her easy going and approachable personality will put you at ease. Ultimately, her goal is to help people feel more comfortable exploring, experimenting, and developing a better understanding of their palate.
Whether it is event planning, or wine educating, or personal sommelier services, I get to celebrate life with people and to help shape lifelong memories.
-- Michaela Hightower
Michaela earned a BA in Communication from the University of Colorado in 1999. While working as an event planner, Michaela’s interest in wine and spirits grew. Her journey to becoming a wine and spirits expert took her to several US vineyards and abroad (France and Italy) where she studied to earn her certifications from the Court of Master Sommeliers, the Level 3 Tasting Certification from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and most recently, her Certified Specialist of Wine designation from the Society of Wine Educators.
Always looking to expand her knowledge, and ever curious, Michaela enjoys looking for new wine and spirit experiences that she can bring back and share with other wine professionals, friends, and clients. She has sipped tequila with rancheros in Mexico, swapped tall tales among viticoltori and Grappa in Italy, learned a little moonshine history from modern day bootleggers in the south, and sampled the sweetest ice wine in an ice house tasting room in Canada to name just a few.
When she is not working, Michaela enjoys spending time with her daughter (her heart and greatest joy) and re-imagining vintage items to bring them back to life.
