Melissa Smith
After spending fifteen years as a chef in some of the top restaurants in the country, I transitioned to the front of the house to focus solely on wine and hospitality. Enotrias is the leading provider of elite sommelier services throughout the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
EXPERIENCE
K&L Wine Merchants. Redwood City, CA. Head Sommelier
SKILLS & EXPERTISE
Auctions and Private Sales
Collectibles and Rare Wine
Inventory Management
Private Cellar Consultation
Regional Expertise: California
Regional Expertise: France
Regional Expertise: Germany
Regional Expertise: Italy
Regional Expertise: North America
Regional Expertise: Oregon
Collectibles and Rare Wine
Inventory Management
Private Cellar Consultation
Regional Expertise: California
Regional Expertise: France
Regional Expertise: Germany
Regional Expertise: Italy
Regional Expertise: North America
Regional Expertise: Oregon
Wine and Food Pairing
Wine Club/Direct to Consumer
Wine Educator
Wine List Creation
Wine Retail
Wine Service- Bar or Wine Bar
Wine Service- Management
Wine Service- Restaurant
Wine Sourcing and Purchasing
Wine Writer
Wine Club/Direct to Consumer
Wine Educator
Wine List Creation
Wine Retail
Wine Service- Bar or Wine Bar
Wine Service- Management
Wine Service- Restaurant
Wine Sourcing and Purchasing
Wine Writer
After spending fifteen years as a chef in some of the top restaurants in the country, I transitioned to the front of the house to focus solely on wine and hospitality. Enotrias is the leading provider of elite sommelier services throughout the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
I was working full time as a pastry chef in Napa Valley and would go wine tasting on my days off. The first bottle I purchased was a bottle of 1994 Chateau Montelena St Vincent because I liked the label. I was also 18 and never got carded, and spent as much time as possible at wineries learning as much as I possibly could about wine. I recently scored four bottles of the St. Vincent at auction, and they were still profoundly incredible. Share
Certified Sommelier Melissa Smith has been building her profile as "The Sommelier to the Silicon Valley Stars", providing in home and corporate wine tasting seminars, and private cellar services to the top executives in the region. While maintaining a full time position as the Head Sommelier for K&L Wine Merchants, the largest online wine and spirits retailer in the country, she grew Enotrias into the Bay Area’s premier sommelier service company.
Melissa is a CIA trained chef that spent 15 years in some of the top kitchens in the country as well as Japan, including stints at the French Laundry, and at Terra, under chef Hiro Sone. After spending years roaming the country with her knife bag and an unbridled sense of adventure, bouncing from a Relais & Chateaux dude ranch in Montana to a hunting camp in Idaho, to a charter yacht in Southeast Alaska, and a pineapple scented season in Maui, Melissa then spent time as the private chef for families of industry giants, and settled down in the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue a career in wine and hospitality.
Her reputation for providing high profile clients with cellar services has lead to a series of MCLE seminars on the valuation of wine collections for California State Bar Associations where she works directly with Family Law and Trust attorneys as a valued resource for legal cases. Also a writer, Melissa's work has been published in print and online, and she is often used as a trusted source for industry news.
Melissa is a CIA trained chef that spent 15 years in some of the top kitchens in the country as well as Japan, including stints at the French Laundry, and at Terra, under chef Hiro Sone. After spending years roaming the country with her knife bag and an unbridled sense of adventure, bouncing from a Relais & Chateaux dude ranch in Montana to a hunting camp in Idaho, to a charter yacht in Southeast Alaska, and a pineapple scented season in Maui, Melissa then spent time as the private chef for families of industry giants, and settled down in the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue a career in wine and hospitality.
Her reputation for providing high profile clients with cellar services has lead to a series of MCLE seminars on the valuation of wine collections for California State Bar Associations where she works directly with Family Law and Trust attorneys as a valued resource for legal cases. Also a writer, Melissa's work has been published in print and online, and she is often used as a trusted source for industry news.