STAFF

T'Anne Butcher - W.H. Smith Wines Tasting Room & Wine Club Manager
Wine Sensory Experience, Proprietor & Wine Educator

I grew up at the winery with my parents. It didn’t seem so fortunate at the time, it just seemed like a lot of hard work. When I graduated from St. Helena High School I left for college at UC Irvine not having the intention of returning to work in the wine industry. However a decade later I did move back with my husband, Bill Butcher who was raised in St. Helena. We decided we wanted to raise our own children here as well. We have two daughters; Katelyn (14) and Hailey (12) who right now have no interest in the wine business but you never know.

I’ve certainly learned a lot over the years from both of my parents and over the last decade I realized my real passion is wine education. Now with over 30 years of experience in the industry I’ve come full circle and am working with my parents again. It has been a fun joint venture running their tasting room and hosting my own wine education classes. Bringing my knowledge together from childhood, working at a cooperage and at other wineries I’ve developed a fun, hands-on sensory experience that is mingled nicely with our tasting room. To learn more about it please click here.

Carlos Montero - Assistant Winemaker

I moved to Napa Valley from Mexico in 1996 and originally lived with the La Jota vineyard manager. I managed to get my first Job at La Jota through him where I met Bill and Joan for the first time. When they decided to start making Pinot from the Sonoma Coast I helped farm the Sonoma Coastal property they bought near Cazadero. After several years doing that, Bill asked if I would like to help at the Piedra Hill Vineyard on top of beautiful Howell Mountain – an offer hard to resist. He also promised to teach me about winemaking – I was hooked.

I have now assisted Bill with winemaking for the past six harvests at W.H. Smith and have done everything from vineyard installations to other vineyard work to cellar work to blending to generally doing whatever is needed. Bill tells me I have a great palate and that I’m hard worker and very conscientious –there’s nothing like working for someone that appreciates you and your work. My favorite wine is the Bill & Joan Special Selection Maritime Pinot Noir.

Julie Sieger - Accounting and Administrative Assistant

I heard of this opportunity from a friend who is a long time Angwin resident. I interviewed in our wine cave, which smells deliciously like wine and has views out to hills of native red Madrone. So now this is where I get to work, on a crest overlooking Las Posadas forest, just beyond a rollercoaster country road lined with volcanic “tufa” rock. Everyday as I drive to work, I am amazed at the beauty surrounding me and I love being here. I have lived in Napa Valley for eleven years and love the kinship that comes from working in the wine industry here in the Napa Valley. Everyone seems to know each other and the locals love to talk wine and wine growing, it surrounds us all the time. Working in wine is a celebration of life and the changes of nature. Last week, Carlos spotted our first rattlesnake of the summer and today I helped capsule our 2007 Bronze Cabernet –There’s never a dull moment up here on the hill.

707-965-9726 • info@whsmithwines.com • 1181 Las Posadas Road (not open to the public) • Tasting Room