ABOUT US
Founder of Enotrias Elite Sommelier Services and Sky Somm,
Certified Sommelier Melissa L. Smith built her profile as "The Sommelier to the Silicon Valley Stars", and is now providing virtual, in-home, and corporate wine tasting seminars, charter aviation and marine wine services,
and private cellar management to the top collectors in the country.
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 developed the first iPhone App for wine pronunciation, the Enotria Guide, and grew Enotrias into the Bay Area’s premier sommelier service company. Having also developed proprietary software unique to Enotrias, wine cellar inventories are the most efficient and accurate in the industry, and accessible through a widely recognized and respected cloud based system.
In 2018, Melissa became the first person certified by the California State Bar Association for her seminar on the Valuation of Wine Collections, and in 2020 her CLE was credited in Texas, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New York, Connecticut, and Illinois. Her reputation for providing high profile clients with cellar services has lead to a series of MCLE seminars, where she works directly with Family Law and Trust and Estate attorneys as a valued resource for legal cases, and USPAP compliant appraisals.
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.
Melissa is certified by the Court of Master Sommeliers, The Culinary Institute of America, The California State Bar Association, The Sake Education Counsel, and the Appraisers Association for USPAP. Melissa's work has been published in print and online, and she is often used as a trusted source for industry news.