Cool Climate Symposium to feature ‘who’s who’ of wine

Next year’s Cool Climate Wine Symposium will feature a “who’s who of the international wine community” according to event chairman, Bruce Tindale.

Speaking last night at a symposium networking event in London’s Vintners’ Hall, Tindale – who owns Surrey vineyard High Clandon – emphasised the high calibre of speakers at the conference, which spans three days in Brighton from 26 to 28 May next year.

“Never has there been such a gathering of leaders in their fields as we are going to have,” he said, mentioning figures such as wine writers Oz Clarke and Jancis Robinson MW, along with Professor Charles Spence – an expert in multisensory perception at Oxford University’s Department of Experimental Psychology – and Professor Kym Anderson from the University of Adelaide, who will consider the economics of cool-climate viticulture.

Tindale also used the acronym KEAN to describe the cornerstones of the upcoming symposium, which, he said, are Knowledge, Enjoyment, Accessibility and Networking.

Noting that there is still much work to be done in attracting attendees, he said that 170 tickets to the symposium had been sold so far, but a total of 450 must be bought to raise enough revenue to cover 50% of the event’s costs (the other 50% has already been paid for through sponsorship).

During a discussion with db after his address, Tindale stressed that it was important that the ticket sales weren’t made just before the event began, and urged potential attendees to register their interest right away, which can be done here, or to buy tickets as soon as possible – which can be done here.

“It helps if we can sell the tickets early as then we can plan with greater confidence and make a richer programme,” he said.

He also pointed out that the symposium has attracted no subsidy or public funding, while he asked those gathered yesterday’s at the Vintners’ Hall “to make sure this event reflects wonderfully on our industry”.

For more information on the symposium, click here, while you can view a list of some of the keynote speakers below.

Professor Hans Schultz – President of Geisenheim

Professor Gregory Jones – the Department of Environmental Studies, and is a director in the division of Business, Communication and the Environment at Southern Oregon University

Professor Cornelis van Leeuwen – a renowned terroir expert, specialising in the climate’s effect on the expression of terroir, in particular the aromatic potential of grapes. He is based at Bordeaux Sciences Agro, France.

Dr Mark Sosnowski – an internationally renowned plant pathologist, Science Leader in Sustainable Systems, Plant Health and Biosecurity at South Australia Research and Development Institute (SARDI)

Professor Dr Reinhardt Töpfer – chief editor of “VITIS” Journal of Grapevine Research, associate editor for Theoretical and Applied Genetics and also for Horticulture Research. Since 1995 he has held the position of Head of the Institute of Grapevine Breeding in Germany

Dr Pat Bowen – a research scientist at Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada’s Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Summerland, British Columbia. She leads a program in winegrape eco-physiology. She will be addressing the issue of Protected or Semi-protected Viticulture, discussing viticulture that incorporates protection from inclement weather to enhance ripening and yield and prevent injury from frost and winter cold.

Professor James Kennedy – most widely recognized for his research on improving our understanding of grape and wine phenolic chemistry. He is Chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at California State University and also Director of the Viticulture and Enology Research Centre.

Dr. Damien Wilson – the Hamel Family Chair of Wine Business Education, with the Wine Spectator Business Institute at Sonoma State University, in California. He has 20 years of professional experience in the wine sector. After completing four degrees in wine business under the tutelage of Prof. Larry Lockshin, then 8 years plying the academic profession as a researcher in France, an extensive list of trade, consumer and academic publications on wine business have emerged on wine consumers, tourism and technology.

Dr Mike Trought – one of New Zealand’s pioneering viticulturalists, from the Marlborough Research Centre

Dr Tony Proffitt – a consultant viticulturist in the Margaret River region of Western Australia. He also teaches viticulture to students enrolled at Curtin University.

Dr Paul Henschke – from the Australian Wine Research Institute.

Prof. Dr Monika Christmann – head of the Institute for Oenology at Geisenheim University where she lectures on the Technology of Winemaking, and manages the research in Oenology. She currently serves as President of the OIV.

Dr. Michela Centinari – currently an Assistant Professor of Viticulture at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. She studied and conducted research at the University of Bologna, Italy as well as Cornell University, USA where she concentrated on the effect of root – zone management practices on above and below-ground vine growth and physiology.

Willi Klinger – Managing Director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. He is also lecturer at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, the University of Salzburg, the Austrian Wine Academy and the Institute of Masters of Wine (London).

Professor Dr Vittorio Rossi – founder of Horta which developed and delivers to growers the decision support system vite.net for sustainable vineyard management. He is a member of the Epidemiology Subject Matter Committee of the International Society for Plant Pathology and an associate professor with the Faculty of Science at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy.

Dr Wayne Wilcox – leader of the grape pathology program at Cornell University, located in the Finger Lakes region of New York, USA. His programmatic focus is on the biology and practical, integrated management of the major fungal diseases that afflict this crop in cool, humid growing regions. He devotes considerable time to outreach activities and has spoken to grape industry and student groups throughout North America in addition to Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Australia, China, India, and England.

Professor Charles Spence – leading experimental psychologist and an expert in the field of multisensory perception and neuroscience-inspired design. He directs the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University’s Department of Experimental Psychology, and has been awarded a number of national and international prizes for his research.

Professor Steve Charters – director of Research in the School of Wine and Spirits Business, ESC Dijon/Burgundy School of Business in Dijon, France. He was previously Professor of Champagne Management at Reims Management School and before that taught in Perth, Australia.

Professor Dr Huiquin Ma – one of China’s leading wine researchers. Having trained at Stellenbosch University, Professor Ma is at the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, University of Beijing.

Professor Randolf Kauer – previously Professor for botany and ecology at the University of applied sciences, Geisenheim. He is currently a professor for organic viticulture at Geisenheim University in Germany, where he has been since 2003.

Professor Kym Anderson – Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide and the Australian National University. Kym is also Chair of the Board of the International Food Policy Research Institute. He’s published more than 300 articles and 30 books, most recently the 2014 OIV prize-winning Which Winegrape Varieties are Grown Where? A Global Empirical Picture and, in March 2015, Growth and Cycles in Australia’s Wine Industry, 1843 to 2013. His main research is on global food security and trade but, after hours, he continues to do research on wine industry globalisation.

Dominique Demarville – Cellar Master at Veuve Clicquot.

Professor Richard Mitchell – teacher at Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. His primary area of research is wine and food tourism and has also published research on the relationship between wine, food and place; the socio-cultural influences on the hospitality industry; wine and food business clusters, and; most recently, food design, dining performances and culinary arts curriculum.