David Donalson found wine later in life when his wife insisted they take a wine appreciate class on their honeymoon. Almost immediately the wine bug set in, starting with him leaving a career as a school teacher in 2011 to help open a new arm of a local retail chain as the wine buyer.

During his tenure there managing over 3,000 different wines, he stood on the podium of the TexSom Best Sommelier Competition from 2015-2017 before earning his Advanced Sommelier certification in 2018.

David now works for Classified Wines as a marketing manager for Dallas/Fort Worth representing some of the best wines in the world.