About Nisha
I’ve spent most of my career figuring out wine from just about every angle—restaurants, retail, wineries, auctions, private cellars, and, whenever possible, around a table with something good to eat.
My deepest experience is in fine wine and the secondary market. I spent years in the auction and private-client world at Hart Davis Hart and Unicorn Auctions, working with collectors to buy, build, manage, value, and sell significant wine collections. Before that, at Knightsbridge Wine Shoppe, I developed the foundation of my fine-wine education, with a particular focus on Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Napa, and the producers and wines that make those places worth obsessing over.
But I came to fine wine through restaurants, and hospitality still shapes the way I think about it.
My wine career began somewhat accidentally at City Winery Chicago. From there, I landed at Alinea, where the intersection of wine, food, and extraordinary hospitality made it pretty clear I'd found my people. I went on to work in sommelier and event roles at The Bristol, Band of Bohemia, Del Frisco’s, and The Kitchen, with a six-month detour into the cellar at Argyle Winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Today, I bring those pieces together in my own work: advising collectors, valuing and managing cellars, representing clients at auction, leading tastings and education, and creating events and partnerships around wine and hospitality.
More than anything, I want the people I work with to feel more confident in their own relationship with wine—whether they’re building a cellar meant to last for decades or figuring out what they want to open with dinner tonight.
In early 2026, I created Provenance, a wine-driven event benefiting the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE), where I serve on the board. The idea was simple: bring together people I admire from across Chicago’s restaurant and wine community, pour some great bottles, eat very well, and raise money for an organization doing work that matters.
Our first Provenance raised more than $40,000 in support of CAASE’s work to end sexual harm. It was also a pretty wonderful reminder of what I love most about this industry: the people in it and what can happen when you give them a reason to gather around a table. And we’re already planning next year’s. Get ready!