Peter Bell
Winery Consultant
Peter, a Canadian native, was the winemaker at Fox Run Vineyards from 1995-2022. He holds degrees in Enology from Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Australia and in Anthropology from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. He worked as a winemaker in Australia and New Zealand before landing in the Finger Lakes region of New York in 1990 to be head winemaker at Dr. Frank’s. He was also an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University and lectured to wine industry professionals throughout the world. Peter retired from full-time winemaking in 2022 and is active as a consultant to wineries in the eastern U.S.
Tim Benedict
Consultant Winemaker
Tim is a native of the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York who grew up around his grandfather’s vineyards. His early formal training was in the field of music but other than an inspired period as a traveling musician, he brought the creative sensibilities of a musician to the craft of winemaking. Tim has 30+ years experience in the grape and wine industry. Throughout his career, he has crafted many award-winning wines from vinifera, hybrid, and native varieties, specializing in dessert wines like port, sherry, late harvest and ice wines. In recent years he has expanded his portfolio to include formula wines, hard cider, and wine spritzers. Tim is an experienced project and production manager and has judged wines in several international competitions.
Dr. Joseph A. Fiola
Professor & Specialist in Viticulture & Small Fruit
University of Maryland
Joseph has over 30 years of academic and industry experience in research and extension in viticulture, small fruit culture, and enology. He is currently a professor and specialist in Viticulture and Small Fruit for the University of Maryland. He coordinates a statewide R&E program, concentrating on grape variety testing, as well as conducting small batch winemaking studies of the experiments. He also has been awarded 12 patents for small fruit variety development and has extensive experience fermenting berry and fruit wines.
Jerry Forest
Winemaker
Buckingham Valley Vineyards
Jerry, together with wife Kathy, and sons Jon, Kevin and Chris founded, own, and operate Buckingham Valley Vineyards, a forty-acre, 18,000 case Pennsylvania vineyard and winery. Founded in 1966, they are celebrating fifty years in the business. Buckingham Valley is unique in that the entire production is sold direct to the consumer. Jerry is unique in that after fifty years he still loves what he is doing. In 2017 Jerry and Kathy were awarded the Eastern Winery Exposition Lifetime Achievement Award.
Patty Held
Proprietor
Patty Held Winery Consulting
Patty hails from Hermann, Missouri and graduated from California State University of Fresno with a B.S. degree in Enology in 1982. She was winemaker for Taylor Wine Company in New York from 1982 to 1988 before returning to her family-owned winery, Stone Hill Winery, in Hermann, MO, where she was director of public relations and special events from 1988 until 2008. Currently, Patty has her own winery consulting business, Patty Held Winery Consulting, specializing in marketing, tasting room evaluations, wine trails and customer service training. Since the 1980s, Patty has judged wine at prestigious wine competitions across the country. In 2004, Patty was instrumental in forming the Hermann Wine Trail, a collaboration among seven local wineries for the purpose of promoting the Hermann area wine country. She serves as president of that organization. Patty is also an adjunct on-line instructor for VESTA, www.VESTA-USA.org, teaching Marketing for Small Wineries and Tasting Room Management. Patty is America’s Wine Trails industry advisor and part of the marketing team for its website and mobile app. She has been in the wine industry since she was five years old and has a grasp of all areas of the winery business.
Dr. Molly Kelly
Extension Enologist
Penn State University
Molly joined Penn State University as the enology extension educator in the Department of Food Science in February 2018. She has led workshops including winery sanitation, filtration, microscopy, wine analysis and berry sensory analysis. Her research has focused on the effect of nitrogen and sulfur applications on Petit Manseng wine aroma and flavor. Current research includes the impact of the spotted lanternfly on wine quality.
Prior to this, Molly was the enology extension specialist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg VA. She also held the position of enology instructor at Surry Community College in Dobson NC, where she developed the enology curriculum and managed all aspects of the college’s 1,000-case bonded winery. Under her direction, Surry produced numerous international award-winning wines. Prior to her position at Surry, she was a biodefense team microbiologist with the New York State Department of Health.
Erin Kirschenmann
Managing Editor
Wine Business Monthly
Erin Kirschenmann, DipWSET, is the managing editor for WineBusiness Monthly and has been with the company since 2012. In addition to production responsibilities for the monthly trade magazine, she writes about business, technology, sales, and marketing and also oversees content and programming for WBM’s symposiums. She speaks on wine industry trends at numerous conferences, including the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium and the World Bulk Wine Exhibition, and guest lectures on wine, media, and public relations. In 2022, she joined the Napa Valley Wine Academy as a WSET Level 1 and Level 2 instructor. Erin has served as a judge in the international Concours Mondial de Bruxelles wine competition since 2016 and at several regional competitions. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in communications with a journalism emphasis from Sonoma State University. Find her online via her Instagram, @erinakirsch.
Lucie Morton
Viticulturist
Morton Viticulture
Lucie is an independent viticulturist based in Virginia. She is an internationally recognized author, ampelographer, lecturer, consultant and research collaborator. Her higher education in viticulture occurred in Europe, while her practical education began as vineyard manager on the family farm along the banks of the Potomac River, Virginia-side. Most recently she has been working with geologists to show the need for revising potassium recommendations based on soil analyses and with plant pathologists to better understand wood fungi that also impact developing fruit clusters.
Tom Payette
Winemaker & Winemaking Consultant
Tom is a pioneering winemaker with a Food Science degree and over 36 years of crafting fine premium wines. He is also a premier winery start-up professional saving client’s capital and operational costs. He has developed flexible streamlined processes from the 70+ winery start-ups and expansions he has facilitated. From building construction to bottling, Tom’s industry knowledge is highly valuable. His winemaking expertise covers west (Napa) and east coast fruit, muscadine and sparkling production. Tom is also skilled in winery rescues. More about Tom is available via winemakingconsultant.com.
Joy Ting
Research Enologist
VA Winemakers Research Exchange
Joy is the Research Enologist for the Virginia Winemakers Research Exchange, a non-profit organization founded in 2014 to promote innovation through experimentation and education in the wine industry. Each year, the WRE supports 30-40 production scale experiments around practical questions focused on improving wine quality in VA. Prior to joining the WRE, Joy was the winemaker and enologist at Michael Shaps Wineworks, and she continues to produce small batch wines under her own label.