Our Educators

Maureen Bayer, WSETDip, CWE, CS

Maureen is a certified wine nerd. Starting out in beverage retail she has held various positions in the industry both on- and off- premise. She is a graduate from RIT and the CIA (Culinary Insitute of America). Maureen is a wine and spirits consultant for Opici Family Distributing/RNDC, covering Monroe and Ontario Counties in New York. In 2018, Maureen completed the WSET educators training course and completed the Diploma program in October of 2019. Maureen’s love for learning and beverage education lead her to launching Bayer Beverage.

Lorraine Hems, CWE, CSS, WSET L3, CS, CWJ

Lorraine is a wine-spiration to all teaches. As a lecturer for Saunders College of Business at RIT (where they met as Maureen’s instructor), Lorraine is able to share her passion with students from around the world. Lorraine is a graduate of Nazareth College with her masters in hospitality from RIT. She has worked in many aspects of the industry from retail to distribution. She continues to stay in the top of her field as an active member of Society of Wine Educators, American Wine Society, and Women for WineSense