Luminaries

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Michele Duval
Executive Director of New England Wine Festivals, Michele Duval joined the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel in New Castle, NH shortly after its grand re-opening in 2003 and developed the six-week long Winter Wine Festival there.  Spurred by the success of that Festival, New England Wine Festivals was formed to bring the same great food and wine events to the spectacular settings of Rockland/Camden, Maine in the Summer and Bar Harbor, Maine in the fall.

Formerly chef/owner of the landmark and national award-winning restaurant The Cape Neddick Inn in York, Maine, her signature is New England regional cuisine that spotlights the best local products and traditions. Awarded 'Chef of the Year' from the American Culinary Federation, Michele was also the first woman chef of Maine to be invited to the renowned James Beard House in New York where she prepared a 5-course wine dinner.

She has also been honored by numerous 'Wine Spectator Magazine' Awards of Excellence and 'Sante Magazine' awards for Best Wine Dinners in the Northeast and Best Menu for Wine and Spirits.  Michele Duval's passion for food and wine has brought her to tour extensively in Napa, Caneros, and Sonoma, California and to befriend many vintners from the world’s wine regions. Her travels have also brought her to the great wine regions in France, South America and Hungary where she indulged in sampling rare Tokay wines -- and to one memorable afternoon as a guest of Nathan Rothschild at Waddeson, his English summer home -- where she drank Lafite-Rothschild all one delicious countryside afternoon.

Michele is proud to bring all her experience to heighten your pleasure and fun in enjoying fine food and wine, showcased in one of America's most spectacular settings -- the Samoset Resort on the coast of Penobscot Bay.

If you have any questions about the Winter Wine Festival events please feel free to contact her at michele.duval@wentworth.com

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tim Pierce, CEC, Samoset Resort, Executive Chef
As Executive Chef of The Samoset Resort, Chef Tim Pierce leads a culinary staff of over 25 chefs, cooks and students.  Chef Pierce joined the resort in 2002, and is responsible for menu creation, kitchen management, and creative execution of menus for all of the resort’s restaurants:  the white tablecloth, Four Diamond Marcel’s Restaurant; the more casual Breakwater Café; the seasonal Clubhouse Grill; and banquet services for the 22,000 square foot conference center.

Chef Pierce grew up in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, where he began his culinary career by working in several area restaurants throughout high school.  He then attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and graduated in the summer of 1986.  Chef Pierce then moved back to Maine, first working at the Schooner Inn in Kennebunkport before taking on his first Executive Chef position at the age of 20 for Falcon, Inc., an exclusive corporate retreat and lodging experience in the backwoods of northern Maine.  After several years there, and looking for new challenges, he traveled to New Hampshire to be the Executive Chef of the Christmas Farm Inn in Jackson.  During his years in the Mount Washington Valley, Chef Pierce received his Executive Chef Certification through the American Culinary Federation, was awarded the ACF Northern New Hampshire Chef of the Year in 1997, won an ACF Culinary Decathlon, and won numerous gingerbread house and ice carving awards.  He then moved to Vermont to work at the prestigious Putney Inn under Executive Chef and cookbook author Ann Cooper.  Then it was back to New Hampshire to be the Chef de Cuisine at the famed Balsam’s Grand Resort in Dixville Notch.  While at the Balsams, Chef Pierce honed his talents while mentoring and teaching culinary arts and ice carving to over 40 apprentices.  He was also able to co-coach four culinary teams to state titles, as well as coach the 2002 National Collegiate Ice Carving Champions.  Chef Pierce, a member of the National Ice Carving Association, continues to compete and place in area competitions, and has begun judging competitions as well. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dave Guffy - Director of Winemaking - The Hess Collection Winery
Dave Guffy is in the vineyards year-round, from pruning through leaf removal, cutting the crop loads and deciding just when to pick the grapes to ensure the best expression of a particular vineyard.

“In the 90’s, winemakers woke up and realized that the best wines always start in the vineyards,” he said. “I learned very early that I have to walk the vines,” says Dave.  During the weeks leading up to the vintage and during harvest, Guffy spends at least half his time in the vineyards. “It isn’t just the grapes. I need to see the health of the vineyards and what shape everything is in,” he said. “Then during harvest, I continually taste the grapes to keep an eye on the maturity of flavors and tannins.” 

Sampling a variety of wines while working in restaurants as a Food Science student at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo first sparked Dave’s interest in wine. To learn more, he worked a harvest at a small Santa Cruz Mountain winery and decided to shift to the enology and viticulture program at Fresno State.

In 1990, Kendall‐Jackson was building its Cambria winery and Guffy was hired as assistant winemaker. In 1992, Guffy was named winemaker, producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, plus some Syrah.

In 1999, Donald Hess was looking for someone to oversee all winemaking for The Hess Collection. “As a student I loved Cabernet, especially from the Napa Valley and it inspired me to go into winemaking. Now, I’m literally on top of Napa, making mountain Cabernets.  Mountain fruit is different from valley floor fruit— and so are the wines. They are structured, complex, rich wines, with distinctive tannins, ageability, and concentrated fruit."

The ongoing lure for Guffy is the combination of farming and food science. A California native  who grew up in San Jose, he spent summers with his grandparents on a 500‐acre Kansas farm and Guffy has kept a strong attraction to the earth. “The farming aspect of wine has a primal challenge about it and the same with winemaking ‐‐ you can never know everything. Every year the challenge is to do it better than the year before.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Riccardo Legnaro, VP Italian Brands, Palm Bay Imports
Riccardo Legnaro was born in Padua, Italy. He attended the School of Technical Design in Padua.

From 1975-1982, he worked in the hotel industry in various capacities, including the Royal Bath Hotel in Bornemouth, England and the Park Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany.
 
Riccardo was wine steward on board the QE II for 3 years. He also worked at Windows on the World in New York City for 5 years. 
 
He was the NY and North Eastern manager of the Italian Portfolio for Diageo for 10 years.
 
He has been VP of Italian Brands Palm Bay Imports for the past 9 years.   

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________