Partner/Winemaker
Ken was born in Stoneham, MA and grew up in Southern California. He received his undergraduate degree at Occidental College, CA, Master’s degree from Queens College, NY, and PhD in structural geology from UMass Amherst. He is an independent exploration geologist scientist and for the past 30 years, when he has not been looking at rocks or seeking out groundwater deposits, he has been making beer, wine, cider and mead. In 2010, Ken made it official when he became partner and vintner at Hermit Woods Winery. He can still be found looking at rocks, but this passion is now shared with his passion for the art and science of making wine, cider and mead.
W01b | Panel & Tasting: Berry Fruit Wines
W01d | Panel & Tasting: Mead Fermentation Issues
W01e | Melomels & Pyments
Professor of Horticultural Marketing and Business Management
Kathy teaches a Retail Horticultural Business Management course at Penn State. Her research interests include studying consumers’ wine consumption, purchasing attitudes and behaviors, wine tourism, what encourages tasting room visits, and related. Her extension responsibilities also include developing business and marketing educational programs for wine brands and winery tasting rooms.
Molly joined Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA, in 2013. In this role, she leads educational programs focusing on wine quality. She has led workshops including winery sanitation, filtration, microscopy, wine analysis and berry sensory analysis. She completed a Ph.D. in food science under the direction of Dr. Bruce Zoecklein in 2013. Her research has focused on the effect of nitrogen and sulfur applications on Petit Manseng wine aroma and flavor. Current research includes a pre-harvest on-the-vine dehydration study in collaboration with Bruce Zoecklein. Previously she 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.
Steve and Cynthia Madey established a vineyard at Buena Vista Farm in Hague, VA in April 2005 and subsequently opened The Hague Winery in 2009. Varieties planted included 1500 vines of chardonel based on a recommendation in Tony Wolfe’s Commercial Grape Varieties for Virginia. Renowned viticulturist Lucie Morton was instrumental in creating the closely-spaced, VSP, cane-pruned vineyard in cooperation with Doug Flemer of nearby Ingleside Vineyards. While the fruit is grown in Hague, the wines are produced by Michael Shaps in Charlottesville at Shaps Wineworks. Our chardonel wines have been blends of chardonel and small amounts of aromatic vinifera grapes, e.g. muscat and petit manseng. Both Steve and Cynthia are retired naval officers and have escaped Washington, DC for rural Virginia and farming.
Living in California for eleven years gave Bob the opportunity to learn about and explore wine to his heart’s desire. Having visited hundreds of wineries from San Diego to Washington, his passion for wine took root. Since returning to New Hampshire in 1993 Bob met his partners, Ken Hardcastle and Chuck Lawrence, and together they discovered the wines of New York, Canada and New England. Before long, the three of them planted a vineyard and were making wine from grapes and other wonderful local fruits and honey. They were well on their way to fulfilling their dream of one day turning their passion into a business.
In 2010 they opened Hermit Woods Winery. Hermit Woods has since been identified by Food & Wine Magazine as one of America’s Top 500 Wineries and the maker of the best craft beverage in NH. When not making wine Bob is an architectural and commercial photographer.
Juan is a semi-native New Yorker raised on the Eastern End of Long Island originally hailing from Cd. Juarez, Mexico. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton with a B.S. in Psychobiology. He started his journey in the fermented beverage industry in 1999 at Pellegrini Vineyards as a cellar door sales associate. In 2000 he accepted the position of assistant brewmaster at the nationally recognized Southampton Publick House before returning to the wine industry in 2001 and has remained ever since. He assumed the role of winemaker at Martha Clara Vineyards in 2007. Juan has been the recipient of the Governors Cup and the Jefferson Trophy and has been widely recognized for many of his wines. He is married to Bridget Q. Micieli-Martinez who is certified with the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and candidate in the Master Court of Sommeliers. They have a three year old son and reside in Riverhead, NY.
Viticulturist
Lucie is an independent viticulturist based in Virginia. She is an internationally recognized author, ampelographer, lecturer, consultant, research collaborator, and most recently film producer. 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. Her focus on rootstocks led her to collaboration with geologists to show the need to revise potassium recommendations based on soil analyses. She believes that integrated pest management is an ever changing challenge which requires ongoing collaboration with plant pathologists worldwide.
In the 1960s Bill Oliver worked as a youngster helping his dad Bill plant his fledgling Creekbend Vineyard and a few years later start Oliver Winery, one of Indiana’s first wineries. He worked part time at the winery through high school and college supplementing his earnings as a commercial balloon pilot which he does to this day. After getting a business degree from Indiana University in 1983 Bill joined the winery full time.
As a jack of all trades in the still-small operation, Bill focused on wine quality and the visitor experience to grow retail sales. Bill met his wife Kathleen while both getting their MBAs from Indiana University. Kathleen joined the winery in 1993 and they worked together as sales grew rapidly through both retail and distributor channels. In spite of having two business degrees, Bill sees himself as a winemaker first, and a businessman second. His day-to-day work centers around winemaking, vineyard operations and new products as well as developing his team to run the now 100% employee-owned business. His goal is continued winery growth with a focus on inspired new products and operational best practices.
Bill loves wine, particularly the nuanced and balanced wines grown and produced in the eastern U.S.
Owner & Winemaker
Chris has been in the wine industry of Virginia since the mid-1980s, starting as wine steward and manager for northern Virginia restaurants, to working in wineries in the 1990s. He helped start and manage the first winery mobile bottle line on the East Coast in 1991. He has been a wine buyer and store manager for Total Beverage and managed the wine training classes for their stores. This extensive experience provided Chris with a solid foundation for his role as a consultant for The Country Vintner, a fine wine distributor until opening his own winery in 2002.
Chris was president of the Virginia Vineyards Association, first chairman of the Virginia Wine and Food Society, and board member of the Virginia Wineries Association. He is a certified wine judge of the American Wine Society, has organized and taught wine appreciation courses for both amateurs and professionals for decades, including for WSET since 1997.
Chris regularly travels throughout the world’s wine regions, is managing partner of three wineries and lives amongst 15 acres of Virginia’s oldest vines.
Filtration Specialist
Maria grew up in South Africa on the family wine farm where filtration of wine with a pressure leaf filter was one of many chores as a teenager. She graduated with a BSc. Agric. degree specializing in Enology and Viticulture from University of Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2000. Maria made wine and managed vineyards all over the globe–South Africa, Australia, France, USA–for 13 years.
She has been working for Scott Laboratories of California for the last eight years and is currently part of the newly minted Beverage Integrity and Filtration department within Scott Labs where the focus is on sustainable filtration and stabilization technologies with applications such as wine, cider, beer (including seltzer), distilled spirits, RTD cocktails and others.
