Fred Dame, MS - Festival Host
President, Guild of Sommeliers
Vice President, Luxury Sales - Fosters Group Americas
Frederick L. Dame, Master Sommelier brings an impressive blend of experience, expertise and enthusiasm to the world of wine and cuisine. He is the first American to have served as President of the Court of Master Sommeliers Worldwide and assists restauranteurs and hoteliers in developing their wine programs in his role as Vice President, Luxury Sales - Fosters Group Americas. Dame's ability to transmit his passionate interest in wine make him a natural teacher. One of just seventy-three Americans to have passed the Master Sommelier Examination, Dame was the first to successfully pass all three parts in a single year.
This feat and his high score won him the coveted Krug Cup of the British Guild of Sommeliers in 1984. Dame founded the American Branch of The Court of Master Sommeliers in 1986 and has played an active role in the expansion of the Master Sommelier program throughout America since that time. As Cellar Master of The Sardine Factory in Monterey, California for twelve years, Dame created a wine list which won the Wine Spectator Grand Award. With the many wine events held in the brick and wine lined Wine Cellar, Dame turned The Sardine Factory into a wine destination restaurant of world renown.
He was elected to the prestigious NationalRestaurant Association College of Diplomates in 2004. In 2006 he received Sante Magazine's Wine Professional of the Year as well as Starwine's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Rob Bigelow, MS
Director - Food & Beverage
Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
Raised only an hour away from Napa Valley wine country, Rob Bigelow grew up with wine running through his veins yet it was a 1961 Chateau Margaux served at a party in his parent's home when he was 10 that confirmed his interest. From that point forward, Bigelow has dedicated himself to the study of wine. After studying hotel and restaurant management in college, and working several Sommelier positions, Bigelow became the Wine and Spirits Director at Canlis Restaurant in Seattle, WA.
Here, under Bigelow's direction, the wine program received the coveted Wine Spectator Grand Award in 1997. Bigelow then came to Bellagio to work as Sommelier at Le Cirque, Circo and Aqua restaurants while preparing for his Master Sommelier examination. In 2002 Bigelow became the 50th American to be awarded the coveted title of Master Sommelier and the seventh American to pass all three parts of this rigorous exam on the first attempt.
He is on the Board of Directors of both the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Guild of Sommeliers. Bigelow was recently honored as the 2007 Wine Professional of the Year by Sante Magazine. Bigelow is currently the Director of Food and Beverage at Aria Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas.
Jay Fletcher, MS
Executive Director of Fine Wine and Master Sommelier
Southern Wine & Spirits of Colorado
An unlikely sommelier, Jay Fletcher grew up in the pool halls and restaurant kitchens of Madison, Wisconsin, but his quest for adventure is what ultimately led Jay to find his calling. Curious what the West had to offer, Jay hitchhiked his way to Aspen in 1978. There, after working as a laborer and concrete worker he went to work at a local French restaurant in 1983 where a glass of Puligny-Montrachet changed everything.
In 1993, after several years working his way up in the local restaurant scene, Jay came across an advertisement for an introductory course offered by the Court of Master Sommeliers. Loyal encouragement and a naturally gifted palate help him earn the title of Master Sommelier just three years and four months after signing up for the introductory course. Jay passed his Masters Exam in London, England in the fall of 1996 as the 30th American to join the Court. Crediting the Court's program with changing his life, Master Fletcher is committed to giving back to others with similar ambitions.
Jay Fletcher currently serves as the Executive Director of Fine Wine and Master Sommelier for Southern Wine and Spirits of Colorado. He is also the current Chairman of the Court of Master Sommeliers American Chapter's Board of Directors. Jay is the Cellar Master for the Guild of Sommeliers' extensive wine collection, an accredited Bordeaux Educator from the L'Ecole du Vin in Bordeaux, France, and a Commandeur d'Honneur from the Commanderie du Bontemps of the Medoc, Graves, Sauternes, and Barsac.
Geoff Kruth, MS
Festival Wine Consultant
Wine Director, Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant
Master Sommelier Geoff Kruth brings vitality, passion and extensive knowledge to his role as Wine Director of The Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant in the Russian River Valley. He has helped lead the Farmhouse to critical acclaim; with a Michelin star, a 27 score in Zagat, and the recent naming by Gourmet Magazine as one of the world's top 36 food destinations.
Having worked at some of America's finest dining establishments, Kruth is on a short list of the top young American wine professionals. In 2008 he became one of less than 150 people worldwide to have ever earned the designation of Master Sommelier. Prior to joining Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant, Kruth was Sommelier at Balthazar Restaurant and Assistant Wine Director for the Balthazar group in Manhattan where he helped oversee more than $10 million in yearly wine sales and was responsible for wine list development, floor service and staff training.
In addition to his French Culinary Institute diploma in Classic Culinary Arts, Kruth holds a certificate in Restaurant Management from the Cornell School of Hotel Management. 2010 will mark Kruth's sixth year as the Festival Wine Consultant for the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival.
Brian McClintic, MS
Regional Manager/Northern California
Heirloom Wine Group
Brian McClintic brings 16 years of restaurant industry experience with him to Treasury wine estates. Having cut his teeth as a server in fine dining establishments all over the country is was at Morton's Steakhouse in Costa Mesa, CA that he was first bitten by the wine bug. This began his ascension to the Master Sommelier diploma, spanning the wine programs of Marche Moderne, The Little Nell, Il Mulino, and Matsuhisa, before ultimately becoming a Master Sommelier while working for the Heirloom Wine Group in February 2011.
Andrew McNamara, MS
Wine and Spirits Specialists Manager
Premier Beverage Company
Master McNamara spent his childhood traveling with his father in pursuit of finding amazing wines. Andrew attended Davidson College where he decided to focus his studies on mathematics. After seven years as a stockbroker, Andrew decided he was on the wrong path and reverted back to his true calling, wine.
While studying for the Court's examinations, Master McNamara worked as a consultant in Arthur's wine shop and later as a member of the sommelier team at the Breakers Palm Beach. During his four years at The Breakers' L'Escalier restaurant he continued the restaurant's prestige by winning the AAA Five Diamond award and the Wine Spectator Grand Award.
In 2007, Andrew passed the Court's most challenging examination and became the tenth person in the world to win the Krug Cup. McNamara then teamed up with Master Sommeliers Juan Gomez and Virginia Philip and started a wine education class called Discover the Wines of the World. That same year, McNamara was named one of the Best New Sommeliers of 2008 by Wine and Spirits Magazine.
In 2008, Andrew left to work with the Professional Culinary Institute in Orlando as the Wine Department Chairman. Then he found his new home at the Premier Beverage Company. He currently works as the Wine and Spirits Specialists Manager.
In 2010 McNamara was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Guild of Sommeliers. Master McNamara continues his search for the finest wines and inspires others to seek out and pursue their true passions in life.
Larry Stone, MS
President & General Manager
Evening Land Vineyards
Larry Stone became the first American to win the prestigious Grand Prix de Sopexa for the title of the Best International Sommelier in French Wines in Paris over 20 years ago. After winning this momentous title within a few months of becoming America's 9th Master Sommelier, he continued as a restaurateur and sommelier, opening the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago.
He then became the General Manager and Sommelier of Charlie Trotter's Restaurant Wishing to be closer to vineyards again, Larry relocated to San Francisco to open Rubicon Restaurant with New York restaurateur Drew Nieporent and Chef Traci des Jardins. Partners with them were Robert deNiro, Robin Williams and Francis Ford Coppola.
In 2001, Larry became a board member of Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery, and then in 2006 its General Manager. Recently, he moved to an exciting winery project called Evening Land Vineyards, which focus on terroirs of fire, fog, fossil and fracture. It manages vineyards and makes wines in distinctive vineyards in Oregon, Burgundy, Sonoma and the Central Coast of California, guided by a winemaking team that includes Dominique Lafon, Christophe Vial, Sashi Moorman and Isabelle Meunier.
