Good + Tasty

Good + Tasty

Leaving California Wine Country To Build a Farm-Stay in Vermont Was the Dream

The reality has been wilder, harsher, and more choked with red tape than expected

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Kathleen Willcox
Jun 11, 2026
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Melissa Smith spent most of her career in the Bay Area and wine country before departing for greener pastures in Vermont.

She worked primarily as a private chef, and a restaurant sommelier-consultant managing high net worth clients’ vast private wine collections, appraising wine estates, and doing expert witness work in contentious court cases. Before …

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