Theresa K. Dilworth, Esq., President

Theresa, principal owner and head winemaker, is an international tax attorney at Pfizer Inc. in Manhattan during the week and lives in Mattituck on the North Fork on the weekends. A native New Yorker and fourth-generation Long Islander, Theresa is from Lloyd Harbor on Long Island's North Shore.

In 2000, along with two Japanese business partners, she acquired 40 acres of farmland in Aquebogue. Starting with no posts, vines, water, electricity, buildings, tractors or other equipment, Theresa was self-taught in all aspects of farming. A former home wine and beermaker, she is also self-taught in commercial-scale winemaking.

Theresa's great-great-grandmother's family was in the vineyard business in Alsace (then part of Germany), although Theresa did not find out until several years after she started the vineyard. In 2006, her father found a diary from his grandmother's grandmother from 1906.  "My father's mother was named Antoinette Dillmeier von Beck, and we knew her family were originally from Alsace, but didn't know they were in the vineyard business. We really didn't know much about them at all, other than they had a coat of arms with a bird on it," which is incorporated onto the capsule of Comtesse Thérèse wines.

And, yes, there was a real Comtesse Thérèse - Comtesse Thérèse von Brunsvik, a piano student of Ludvig von Beethoven. He dedicated at least one piano sonata to her (Piano Sonata No. 24, in F sharp major, "á Thérèse"), and it is reputed that the famous Für Elise was originally called Für Thérèse.

Mineo "Sammy" Shimura

Theresa's husband, Sammy Shimura, is from the area of Japan near Mt. Fuji. He had a long career as a steel industry executive with NKK, the second-largest steel company in Japan, and served as President of NKK's U.S. subsidiary, NKK America Inc. He also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of National Steel Corporation in Mishawaka, Indiana, then the fourth-largest steel company in the US. In 2003, Sammy retired from the steel business. In spring 2004, Sammy obtained a sommelier certification from the American Society of Sommeliers, with the highest grade in the class. He likes to taste wines from all over the world. He now works full-time managing the vineyard, and calls himself "Vinedresser", an ancient Biblical term for a person who takes care of grapevines.

 

Bernard Cannac, Consultant Winemaker

Bernard Cannac, a native of France, is Consultant Winemaker for Comtesse Thérèse. Originally from the Languedoc region in the south of France, where his grandfather had a vineyard, he trained in oenology at the University of Bordeaux, and obtained an MBA from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Dijon. Prior to moving to Long Island, he was a winemaker in Virginia. He is currently chief winemaker at Duck Walk Vineyards in the Hamptons on the South Fork. His previous experience in winemaking on the North Fork of Long Island includes Galluccio and Osprey's Dominion.

 

Lisa Julian Cannac, Assistant Winemaker

Native Long Islander Lisa Julian Cannac is the Assistant Winemaker and Director of Wine Sales. She is the former Lab Director of Premium Wine Group, the custom crush facility in Mattituck where Comtesse Thérèse wines are made. She has many years of experience with Long Island winemaking, wine analysis and wine sales. Lisa is responsible for all sales to liquor stores and restaurants, as well as special events. Thanks to Lisa, Comtesse Thérèse wines are available in most liquor stores on the North Fork, many on the South Fork and Shelter Island, and an increasing number in Suffolk, Nassau, New York City and upstate.

Lisa and Bernard have their own wine consulting and servicing company, Wine Connection, to provide a variety of wine-related services to small wineries, ranging from winemaking consultation, to wine deliveries and shipments, to administration. For more information see www.wineconnectionconsulting.com.

Chizuko Tomita, Partner/Co-owner

Ms. Tomita is an international tax partner for the Tokyo office of Ernst & Young, the Big Four accounting firm. Theresa, Chizuko, and Kayomi became acquainted almost 20 years ago when they were working at Ernst & Young's New York and Tokyo offices, respectively. All three then moved on from E&Y - Chizuko went on to become the Director of Tax for Softbank, and before that, Vodafone, in Tokyo, but Chizuko returned to E&Y in 2006. Chizuko was the catalyst behind the partnership's creation. When she transferred to E&Y New York for an eighteen month stint, she enjoyed visiting the Long Island wine region and making homemade wines with Theresa on the weekends, and also helped another friend on the East Coast make barrels of wine at his home. It was always her dream to be an owner, or a part owner, of a vineyard, and so she raised the idea of the partnership with Theresa.

Kayomi Hirota, Partner/Co-owner

Ms. Hirota, graduate of Tokyo University and US certified public accountant, founded Info Selection Network, a financial advisory company in Tokyo, which also has a New York representative office.Through the efforts of Kayomi and Chizuko, Comtesse Thérèse wines have recently been sold to one of the largest department stores in Japan and in high-end restaurants in Tokyo.