Lorraine Hems - New York Wine & Culinary Center

Lorraine Hems has been working in retail, wholesale, and wine education for over 25 years. She is a full-time instructor in the Hospitality and Service Management Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, Certified Wine Educator through the Society of Wine Educators and is currently working toward her Diploma through the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. In addition to teaching WSET courses at the center, she also serves as a wine judge at competitions around the country. She has traveled to many wine regions throughout the world.

More info:

800 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY 14424

• lorraine.hems@nywcc.com
• www.nywcc.com/learn/instructors_wine.php

Shannon Brock - New York Wine and Culinary Center

Shannon Brock is employed full-time by the NYWCC as Wine Coordinator. Her job responsibilities include outreach with over 250 New York State wineries, selection of wines for the all-New York tasting room, creation and maintenance of the wine list for the Taste of New York Lounge, coordination and teaching of wine education and wine and food pairing classes for the general public, and pairing of wines with menus for private events. Her wine certifications include an Advanced Certificate in Wine and Spirits through WSET and Wine Judge Certification through American Wine Society. She has worked at wineries in both New Zealand and the Finger Lakes, and has served as a wine judge in state and national level competitions. She has a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.Ed. from University of Virginia.

More info:

800 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY 14424

• shannon.brock@nywcc.com
• www.nywcc.com/learn/instructors_wine.php
• 585-394-7070

Jan Klapetzky - New York Wine & Culinary Center

A chemical engineer by training and now retired from Kodak, Jan has been a serious home winemaker for 37 years. He has more than 30 Gold medals to his credit in state and national level competitions including a Best Hybrid ('06) and an overall Best of Show ('99) in the American Wine Society national competition. He is a member of the American Wine Society and a past chairman of the Rochester chapter. He recently accepted a position as Winemaker for the new Young Sommer Winery in Williamson and is currently vinifying their first season's production.

More info:

800 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY 14424

• info@nywcc.com
• www.nywcc.com/learn/instructors_wine.php
• 585-394-7070

Cheryl Pitti - New York Wine & Culinary Center

Originally from Rochester, Pa, Cheryl entered the United States Air Force after attending Thiel College in Greenville, Pa. Her passion for wine began to develop while living in Europe in the 80’s. During the years to follow, she’s taken many wine classes, done much self study and received her internationally recognized Intermediate Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) certification. Her prior industry experience was working as a wine consultant for The Traveling Vineyard, whose parent company is Geerlings and Wade. Cheryl has been working at the New York Wine and Culinary Center since it opened in June 2006.

More info:

800 South Main Street
Canandaigua, NY 14424

• cheryl.pitti@nywcc.com
• www.nywcc.com/learn/instructors_wine.php
• 585-394-7070

Nancy Tisch - Bet the Farm Winery and Regional Gourmet

Bet the Farm is both a farm winery and a retail outlet shop. The winery is housed at Damiani Wine Cellars (Seneca Lake) in Hector, NY. The wines are sold exclusively in our retail shop in Aurora, NY on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake. In addition to my own wines, I offer a selection of other quality Finger Lakes wines and gourmet foods from around the state of New York.

I make our Bet the Farm wines at Damiani Wine Cellars. Lou Damiani and Phil Davis are among the top red winemakers in the region and I'm learning a lot about the wine-making mystique from them. As a New York winemaker we are allowed to sell any NY State wine in our shop. I've worked hard to offer a broad, quality selection -- something for everyone's palate and everyone's purse.

"Nancy has worked as a medical laboratory technologist, professor of ecology and mathematics, innkeeper, and more. Her science and math background along with her adventurous spirit have made the transition to entrepreneurship a natural fit. Her business is deeply rooted in her passion for food and wine."
---From Nancy's bio

The reason I teach wine appreciation and wine sensory classes:
> It’s an important part of our local culture and economy
> It will get you bigger tips if you know your restaurant’s wine offerings
> It could prevent you from saying something like, "Yes, I like a dry, sweet wine."
> It’s like learning to multiply -- I encourage practice, practice, practice!

More info:

381 Main Street
Aurora, New York
13026

• nancy@betthefarmny.com
• www.betthefarmny.com
• 315-294-5643

Thomas Pellechia

In a program called, What is Wine? I present palate and sensory training for the laymen with the aim to teach the techniques needed to pair wine and food. The class starts at the beginning--in the vineyard and moves on to whatever level clients seek. In addition, I offer classes to the business community, to teach account representatives and sales and marketing representatives what they need to know about wine and food when entertaining clients, or for planning events.

More info:

PO Box 318
Hammondsport, NY 14840

• booklink@empacc.net
• 607-868-4851