Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Elaine Chukan Brown is a celebrated writer, speaker and global wine educator having presented in countries on every continent except Antarctica. Her writing was recognized with a James Beard nomination in Journalism in 2022. She has been featured in print books and magazines, online sites, podcasts, feature-length films, television shows, documentaries, radio shows, apps, and webinars in countries around the world. Brown previously served as Executive Editor US for JancisRobinson.com, specializing in American wine, sustainability, climate action and social responsibility in the context of wine. In 2022, Elaine was named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Wine by WINWSA China. Elaine was named Wine Communicator of the Year for 2020/21 by the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) and VInItaly, and a Wine Industry Leader in North America by Wine Business Monthly in 2020. In 2019, the Wine Industry Network named Elaine one of wine’s Most Inspiring People. Elaine has written for The World Atlas of Wine, The Oxford Companion to Wine, the book On California from the Academie du Vin Library, as well as The World of Fine Wine, Club Oenologique, Decanter, Wine & Spirits magazine, and their own Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews. Elaine also serves as a mentor to people entering the wine industry, and to other Black and Indigenous people, and people of color in wine. Prior to their career in wine, Elaine served as the Charles A Eastman Fellow at Dartmouth College, and a Tomlinson Fellow at McGill University, where they did doctoral work in philosophy. As a university lecturer at Northern Arizona University, Elaine was nominated for multiple teaching awards, served on the faculty development committee, and as part of the First Year Program, creating innovative approaches for effective teaching. Prior to their academic career, Elaine owned their own commercial salmon-fishing business in Bristol Bay, Alaska. The rest of their family continues to commercial fish in Alaska.

Greg is a world-renowned atmospheric scientist and wine climatologist, having held research and teaching positions at the University of Virginia, Southern Oregon University, Linfield University, and as an adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide. He has taught extensively across many areas including meteorology, climatology, ecology, hydrology, geology, statistics, GIS and remote sensing, and wine business, viticulture, enology, and sensory evaluation. For over twenty-five years his research has firmly linked weather and climate with grapevine growth, fruit chemistry, and wine characteristics in regions all around the globe. His work was also one of the first to tie climate change to fundamental biological phenomena in vines and the resulting influences on productivity and quality, informing and influencing the wine industry worldwide. Greg has served on the editorial advisory boards of multiple international and national scientific journals and organizations and serves as a Director on the Oregon Wine Board and the Erath Family Foundation board. He was named to Decanter Magazine’s 2009 Power List representing the top 50 most influential people in the world of wine, named the Oregon Wine Press’s 2009 Wine Person of the Year, has been named in the Top 50 Wine Industry Leaders in Wine Business Monthly in 2016, 2017, and 2018, and has been in the top 100 most influential people in the US wine industry in 2012, 2013, and 2018 (intowine.com). He was also bestowed the Honorary Confrade with the Rank of Infanção (Nobleman) from the Confraria do Vinho do Porto and installed as a knight in the Oregon Wine Brotherhood. Dr. Jones also has lifelong ties to the Oregon wine community, most closely with his family winery and vineyards at Abacela where Greg was appointed CEO in 2021. To find out more about his research and access videos, podcasts, and publications visit this website (www.climateofwine.com).

J. Stephen Casscles comes to Milea Estate Vineyards with over 45 years of experience growing heritage grape varieties in the Hudson Valley and making wine from them at leading wineries in the Valley. He comes from a farming family who settled in the Hudson Valley by 1760 and grew grapes and other fruits starting around 1870 in Marlboro, New York. In the Fall of 2021, Mr. Casscles was appointed Director of the Heritage Wine Project at Milea Estate Vineyards of Staatsburg, NY. This multi-faceted Project is to encourage the study and production of locally produced wines from Heritage Grape varieties that were developed in the Hudson Valley and the North Shore of Boston. The Project focuses on grape varieties that can be grown in an environmentally sustainable manner, which helps to protect our local eco-system, but are productive, fungus disease resistant which produce unique and quality wines. Stephen has a 12-acre farm in Athens, NY, called Cedar Cliff, where he cultivates over 110 rare French-American hybrids, 19th Century heritage grape varieties from the Hudson Valley and Massachusetts, and own rooted chance hybrids that he evaluates, makes wine from, and lectures about. In addition, he lectures on wine, grape cultivation, 19th century American horticulture and landscape architecture at botanical gardens and historical societies throughout New York and New England. Casscles operates a small nursery that propagates rare 19th Century heritage grape varieties and own rooted chance hybrids identified at his farm. He is an award-winning winemaker whose wines and work has been covered by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Post, The Wine Enthusiast, Forbes Magazine, Hugh Johnson’s Annual Pocket Wine Book (2021), Albany Times-Union, and Hartford Courant. As a regional historian, Stephen authored Grapes of the Hudson Valley and Other Cool Climate Regions of the United States and Canada (2015), which details the history of the Hudson Valley fruit growing industry, how to make wine, establish and maintain a vineyard, and the growing characteristics of over 170 cool climate grape varieties. This book will be going into a second edition by the Spring of 2022 and will include 2 new chapters on heritage grapes developed in New England. He is currently working on two new books, The Prince Family Nurseries of Flushing, NY (1720-1869) and The Life and Times of E. S. Rogers and the Heritage Grapes of New England. In addition to his full length works on grape varieties, grape cultivation, and 19th century horticulture, Stephen is a frequent lecturer and contributor to academic and trade journals such as Arnoldia of the Arnold Arboretum of Boston, MA, Fruit Notes of U. Mass Amherst, Horticultural News of Rutgers University, Wine Journal of the American Wine Society, New York Fruit Quarterly of the NYS Horticultural Society, and the Hudson Valley Wine Magazine. As a culmination of his horticultural pursuits, Stephen advises and lectures at the Fermentation Sciences Program at SUNY at Cobleskill and has a working relationship with many in the Korean grape and wine industry. Casscles is a recently retired government lawyer with over 35 years of experience in New York State and municipal government. He dedicated his life to public service and practiced law in a broad range of areas such as health, insurance, alcoholic beverage control, gaming, agriculture, economic development, municipal finance, and land-use law. He retired from the NYS Health Department in 2021.

All Speakers

Dr. Aude Watrelot is an Assistant Professor and Extension specialist of Enology in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University. Dr. Watrelot’s research area is fruit, grape and wine tannin and polysaccharide chemistry and their relationship with wine quality. Dr. Watrelot graduated with a PhD degree in Food Science from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the University of Avignon in France. Following graduation, Dr. Watrelot moved to California both at CSU Fresno and UC Davis to keep conducting research into polyphenol-macromolecular interactions on red wine chemistry. At ISU, she is currently conducting research on understanding viticultural and winemaking practices that could maximize phenolics extraction and improve wine quality. Dr. Watrelot develops extension programs such as webinars, workshops, field days, articles to answer the growing wine industry in Iowa and in the Midwest. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Enology and Viticulture – Eastern Section (ASEV-ES) and for the Groupe Polyphenols.

Daniel Paredes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Biology, Ecology, and Earth Science at the University of Extremadura, Spain. After completing his Ph.D. in 2014, Daniel visited several universities in Europe and the United States of America in order to pursue his interests in research mainly orientated towards sustainable agriculture and how can we better balance biodiversity conservation with agricultural production. Using ecoinformatics and data science he uses predictive models and computer simulations as his main tools to explore the ecological mechanisms underlying the delivery of ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes and how local and landscape management practices influence these mechanisms. Currently, he is leading a project aimed at characterizing viticultural landscapes with the purpose of creating habitat scenarios across Europe. These scenarios will then be linked with natural enemies and pollinator species assemblages to describe patterns that maximize biodiversity and ecosystem services in viticultural landscapes. In addition, he is collaborating on a project to predict the effect of land use and climate change on viticultural pests especially focused on Lobesia botrana, the European Grape Moth. Altogether, their current and past projects are encompassed within a more sustainable world vision capable of providing optimal development to today’s society without compromising the development of future generations.

Deirdre Heekin of La garagista farms and makes wine in both the Chateauguay mountains and the Champlain Valley in Vermont. She is passionate about wholistic and regenerative agriculture, exploring the botanical diversity of hybrid grapes and their various wine expressions, simple and honest winemaking, and the creative narratives of place that wine can tell. She and her husband Caleb Barber have been growing wine since 2007 when they planted their first vines. She is also the author of three books, the most recent An Unlikely Vineyard. @ lagaragista.com

Drew Horton has been active in the wine industry for over 25 years having started as a wine salesman, he then worked up the wine production ladder from cellar rat to cellarmaster and eventually winemaker starting in 2004. With a BA in Anthropology and early career experience working in kitchens, Drew brings a unique perspective at the intersection of food, culture, and of course wine. He produced award-winning wines in Santa Barbara County, California before moving to Minnesota in 2010 where he began working with cold-hardy, hybrid grapes as founding winemaker for Chankaska Creek Winery. In 2015, Drew moved from commercial winemaking to research winemaking and providing outreach as a field specialist enologist for the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. As Enology Specialist for the University of Minnesota’s Grape Breeding & Enology Project Drew produces well over 100 micro-lots of research wine and ciders annually, as well he engages with and provides University and Extension resources to winemakers across the state. This includes trouble-shooting, planning, and evaluating winemaking processes for Minnesota’s Farm Wineries. Drew has broad experience and expertise in winery design and equipment, fermentation techniques, barrel-ageing, filtration and blending. Drew became Instructor for the U of MN’s HORT1031 “Vines and Wines” 3-unit undergrad course in the spring semester of 2022. Additionally, Drew offers courses and workshops to appeal to the needs of wine makers, from amateur to professional. Horton says, “I’m a hands-on winemaker, always looking for the best practical solutions to solve wine and winery needs and issues”

Dr. Elsa Petit has been faculty at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2015. Dr. Petit graduated with a M.S. Agronomy from Bordeaux Sciences Agro in France in 2000. She then completed her PhD in Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis in 2005. Dr. Petit has been in the Phytopathology and Viticulture research and Extension field since 2000. Dr. Petit currently leads the Massachusetts Extension Grape Production program and is the editor of Grape Notes Newsletter released 25 times yearly reaching about 150 grape growers. Since 2020, she is the lead investigator for the MA Experiment Station on the NIFA Multistate project NE1720: “Multi-state Coordinated Evaluation of Winegrape Cultivars and Clones” on which she has been a co-investigator since 2015. Dr. Petit’s research focuses on evolution and ecology of plant-microbe interactions. She uses grapes in the Northeast US as her model system. She focuses on the following themes: (1)Impact of agricultural management on microbiomes, (2) Effect of temperatures on flowering time in wild grape species, (3) Variation in resistance to necrotrophic and biotrophic diseases caused by fungi on grape. Her research has been published in 37 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She also teach General Plant Pathology and Sustainable Grape Production.

Ethan has been growing grapes and making wine at Shelburne Vineyard since 2008. He is responsible for all aspects of the operation, from vineyard to glass, and appreciates this integral role in the full cycle of winegrowing. As such, he is committed to highlighting the potential of northern varietals through sound viticulture, premium winemaking, and unique consumer experience. In 2016, Ethan and his team developed a sub-brand for Shelburne Vineyard called Iapetus, which represents wines with a strong sense of place and applies minimalism in the winery. Ethan also shares his experience and expertise as a speaker at national conferences and serves as Treasurer for the Vermont Grape and Wine Council.

Evelyne Barriault is a grape specialist with 20 years of extension experience within the grape grower’s community of Quebec. Following her involvement as a private consultant, she joined in 2012 the Quebec ministry of agriculture as provincial grape and apple specialist. She is the author of a handbook for the establishment of a vineyard and co-author of a guide on best management practices in viticulture. She also developed with a multidisciplinary team a tool to assess sites potential for vineyard establishment. She is also involved in integrated pest management in vineyards within the crop advisory board of Quebec and regularly publish phytosanitary warnings and factsheets, together with the organisation of workshops promoting sustainable practices in vineyards and orchards.

Geena joined the family business in 2012 after a management degree at Dalhousie University and spending a year gaining work experience outside of the family business. Stepping in as event manager and working her way throughout all departments at the winery, spending a winter working at a winery in New Zealand, WSET courses, and lots of industry involvement later and the passion was born. In her current role as owner/GM you will find Geena has her eyes on all things Luckett Vineyards while also supporting the industry with her role as Vice Chair of the Wine Growers Nova Scotia board and seat on WGNS marketing committee.

Dr. Harrison Wright was raised on a mixed, primarily apple farm in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. He received a certificate for Engineering at Mount Allison University (Sackville, New Brunswick). During a hiatus from university he obtained his student pilot license from Scotia Flight Centre (Waterville, Nova Scotia) before returning to academia for a BSc in Physics and a BA in English from Acadia University (Wolfville, Nova Scotia). While studying English, Harrison sold the rights to his personal memoir to a local publisher. Shortly thereafter Harrison naturally parlayed his background in Engineering / Physics / English and Aviation into a job driving a 1974 Ford 3-ton spray truck administering spray applications to research trials out of the Kentville Research and Development Centre (KRDC). With time Harrison returned to school to pursue graduate studies. He completed a M.Sc. in Agriculture and a Ph.D. in Biology (Plant Physiology) both through Dalhousie University (Truro and Halifax, Nova Scotia, respectively). Postdoctoral work was performed through Laval University (Quebec City, Quebec) before he accepted a position as a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) at the KRDC in Nova Scotia. His research primarily focuses on the production of wine grapes and apples. Harrison lives in the community of Woodside, NS in the Annapolis Valley on a small farm with his wife, Aimee, and their three boys, Ever, Fielding and Gardner.

Professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science and state viticulture specialist at The Ohio State University with research and extension responsibilities in viticulture. His research interests include cold hardiness of grapevines and developing methods of cold protection; improving fruit and wine quality using cultural practices; and germplasm evaluation and matching varieties with climates and sites. Dr. Dami participated in research assignments and educational tours in Canada, Chile, China, Italy, Tunisia, and USA (California), and has been invited to speak nationally and internationally including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Tunisia. Dr. Dami was the editor and lead-author of an Extension book titled “Midwest Grape Production Guide” and co-authored “Winter Injury to Grapevines and Methods of Protection”, and co-produced an educational video title “Grapevine Canopy Management”, all were awarded best extension publications by the American Society of Horticultural Sciences. Since 2015, Dr. Dami and his group have shared progression of fruit maturity of important varieties in Ohio as a service to Ohio grape and wine producers. Dr. Dami served as Chair of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture-Eastern Section (ASEV-ES), Board Director in ASEV-E, and currently serves on the national ASEV, and as academic advisor to Ohio grape and wine industry organizations for the past 18 years. To learn more about the viticulture program at OSU, please visit Buckeye Appellation at: https://ohiograpeweb.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/.

Jean-Benoit joined the team in the spring of 2008 and has more than two decades of experience in the wine industry, including 16 years in winemaking. From his start with Casa Barranca, Santa Barbara County’s very first certified organic winery, to Vino Organico Emiliana, one of South America’s early certified biodynamic pioneers, Jean-Benoit’s body of work has exclusively helped the growth and progress of sustainable and ethical operations. In order to assist Benjamin Bridge in releasing products that are unique and ahead of their time, Jean-Benoit’s primary focus remains the ongoing evolution of wine as a cofactor of our evolution as a biosphere and society.

Jeff Munroe is the Philip B. Stewart and Sarah F. Cowles Stewart Professor of Geology at Middlebury College in Vermont. Raised in Massachusetts, he attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he developed a fascination with the evolution of mountain landscapes. For his Masters thesis at the University of Wisconsin, he studied the development of permafrost soils in northern Alaska. For his PhD dissertation, also at Wisconsin, he investigated the last glaciation in the Uinta Mountains of Utah. Since joining the faculty at Middlebury in 2001, he has studied environmental change in the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin of the southwestern US, the evolution of lakes and soils in the northern Appalachian, and impacts of mineral dust deposition in mountain landscapes. He teaches courses on environmental geology, landscape evolution, and mountain environments. When not in the lab or doing fieldwork, he enjoys hiking and travel, along with wine and wine making.

Jim Ballard had a hunch. The many customers of James Arthur Vineyards are glad he followed it. Jim thought his father-in-law’s farmland, situated north of Lincoln, Nebraska was fertile ground for growing grapes. With his father-in-law’s blessing, Jim planted several grapevines with the hope that his hobby would someday produce fine homemade wine and something to share with family and friends. It did, and Jim’s hobby took a new twist. James Arthur Vineyards opened five years later. Now celebrating 25 years in business, Jim is JAV’s head winemaker. He and his wife Barb of 35 years, still run the day-to-day business of the winery as well as two additional businesses in Lincoln’s Haymarket…the From Nebraska Gift Shop and the Haymarket Mercantile. His goal is to produce award-winning Nebraska wine while providing guests to James Arthur Vineyards with an experience that is educational, exciting and interesting. Born and raised in Grand Island, Nebraska, Jim is a former broadcast journalist and Master’s graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln In Journalism. He has three incredible children, Benjamin 30, Beau 28, and Edyn 24. Jim has served on numerous boards throughout his career, including chair of Wine America, as well as the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association, the Parkview Christian School Board and the Lincoln Independent Business Association. He currently serves on the Nebraska Wine and Grape Board as well the Lancaster County Extension Board.

Jim Trezise is President of WineAmerica, the National Association of American Wineries based in Washington, DC. WineAmerica has more than 500 winery members from 44 states, and focuses on national grassroots public policy advocacy to protect and enhance the business climate for the American wine industry. Jim was on WineAmerica’s Executive Committee for more than 25 years before becoming President in 2017. He also created and ran the New York Wine & Grape Foundation for 35 years, as well as the International Riesling Foundation for 10 years concurrently. He serves on many industry broads, judges in major wine competitions, and has received numerous awards for his contributions to the American wine industry.

John and Jenny Thull manage around 12 acres of research vineyards for the Grape Breeding and Enology Project overseen by Dr. Matthew Clark at the Horticultural Research Center in Minnesota. The vineyards contain over 12,000 novel seedling vines of all ages. These vines are continually evaluated for cold hardiness, disease tolerance, growth habit, productivity, and fruit quality for wine production and fresh eating. Every year, as space becomes available, new generations of vines are being planted into the research plots. Growing so many different vines is quite challenging and extremely interesting which has given John and Jenny a whole new appreciation for tasting wine. Jenny and John have enjoyed sharing their growing experience with many groups through talks, presentations, and in-field workshops in Minnesota as well as many other states. As a side project, the Thull’s have been growing a large variety of pumpkins, squash, and gourds which get displayed every year at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and are sold through the Apple House at the HRC. Stop out at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and U of M Apple House during the fall season to enjoy the fruits of their labor!

Prof. Karine Pedneault is associate professor at the Department of Natural Sciences, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) and is attached to the Institut des sciences de la forêt tempérée (ISFORT). She does research in grapevine biochemistry, with focus on the impact of abiotic stress on berry ripening and grapevine life cycle in challenging environments.

Kathline Chery, is the winemaker and grower of Kalchē Wine Co. A worker owned wine cooperative, dedicated to the decolonization of “big wine”, by the production & proliferation of their hybrid space juice! She got her start in agriculture almost ten years ago, at The Rodale Institute, there she learned practices of regenerative farming that she carried along with her while managing vegetable farms in NYC, or working in orchards and Vineyards across the country. Kathline’s approach to fermentation is informed by her multidisciplinary career, as a baker of naturally leavened breads, brewer of beer, and culinary experience with wild fermented goods. In addition to cold hardy hybrid grape wines, Kalchē produces wines that are heavily influenced by the global majority, with the practice of including a diversity of ingredients, fermenting coferments, honey, maple sap and flowers.

Katie earned a Diplôme National d’Œnologie from the Institut Jules Guyot at the Université de Bourgone in 2009 after spending several years traveling and working as a harvest intern at wineries from California to Argentina to France. While in France, she staged in Alsace where she solidified her love of Riesling and cold-climate viticulture. Her thesis work looked at qualitative analysis of native yeast fermentations. After graduation, she spent some time in Australia making Riesling in the Great Southern Region before accepting a position as the Enology Project Leader for the grape breeding program at the University of Minnesota. Katie is proud of being a part in the development and release of the Itasca grape. In 2014 she moved to the Finger Lakes with her husband where they continue making Riesling. In 2016, she accepted her current role with Scott Laboratories as a technical sales rep for the Northeast. She enjoys helping customers work through the challenges associated with cold-climate viticulture and enology.

Kendra Knapik co-founded Ellison Estate Vineyard in 2018, a 50 acre farm with 10.4 acres under vine in the Lake Champlain Islands of Vermont. A veterinary oncologist by training, she has shifted to growing and making natural wine and building a family business for the last 5 years. Ellison Estate Vineyard focuses on regenerative agriculture and crafting clean, balanced and expressive terroir-driven wines. While being self taught by taking over the care of their once abandoned vineyard, both Kendra & her husband and partner Rob bring strong scientific backgrounds to the table. They embrace experimentation in both the vineyard and the winery. Kendra is exhilarated to have the opportunity to make wine in a new wine region. From her work on integrating sheep into the vineyard operation year round to exploring various iterations of the 6 hybrid grapes grown on their property in the winery, Kendra is impassioned to figure out the best ways to make inspiring wine from hybrid grapes, wine with a true sense of place. The winery is located one hour from the vineyard in Stowe,Vermont.

Lisa Francioni is Program Director for the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, a non-profit organization incorporated in 2003 by Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers to promote environmental stewardship and social responsibility in the state’s wine community. She has been integral in implementing the California Sustainable Winegrowing Program, a voluntary educational program for California wineries and vineyards, since 2005 and oversees the third-party certification program, Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing. She leads the development of educational workshops and events and works closely with expert partners, winegrowers, wineries, winegrower associations, and agricultural professionals to develop sustainable winegrowing tools and educational resources. Previously, Lisa served as Environmental Affairs Coordinator at Wine Institute, a public policy advocacy association of more than 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses. She received a Master’s of Science in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco, and a BA in Environmental Studies and a BA in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Matthieu Dubernet leads the first group of independent oenology laboratories in Europe (Groupe Laboratoires Dubernet) based in Languedoc and in the Rhône Valley. He is an agricultural engineer from “Agro Paris” and holds a national oenologist diploma. With more than 25 years of experience at the heart of the wine trade, vinification, aging, work and bottling, Matthieu Dubernet is a recognized consulting oenologist with numerous and prestigious châteaux, estates, cooperative cellars, merchants in Languedoc. A fine taster and blender, he is the architect of many cuvées. He works as an expert consultant with major wine players in all wine regions of France and the world. Expert registered with the courts since 2007, Matthieu Dubernet is also an expert in the French delegation of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). He is at the origin of many innovations, works and scientific publications on oenological and agronomic analysis techniques, on oenological practices, on knowledge of the composition of wines, on agro-environmental issues. Lecturer at the faculty of oenology, as well as at the Sup’Agro school in Montpellier, Matthieu Dubernet is also a regular speaker on topics of oenological analysis techniques, on the question of phytosanitary residues, on the physiology of vine nutrition, the functioning of viticultural soils, etc… Initiator and promoter of the principle of Agro-oenology, he recalls as a leitmotif that “the great wonder of wine is to be the reflection of the environment in which it is produced”. In other words, acting sustainably on the quality of the environment, on the life of the viticultural soils, on biodiversity, on the nutrition of the vine, is to act directly on the quality of the wines. It is in this way that he has been committing, for 10 years, Dubernet Laboratories, with significant specific and innovative technical and scientific resources. Born into a family of oenologists, Matthieu Dubernet is the third generation to write the history of Laboratoires Dubernet. He is the heir to a certain conception of a humanist oenology, at the crossroads between culture, tradition, innovation, science, curiosity, discovery and always, at the service of the truth and authenticity of wines.

Today Journalist at Svenska Dagbladet (swedish second biggest daily paper) – writing columns and articles about wine, food and lifestyle. Freelance editor at Allt om Vin (Scandinavias best selling and most influential wine magazine). Editor in chief at Millhouse Publishing (own company) Founder, partner and senior advisor of White Guide – the leading restaurant guide in the Nordic Countries. Background Studies in Advertising Bergs School of Communication, Ethnology and Journalism, Lund University. Copywriter in advertising agencies and publicity manager on a european basis. Changed to wine writing and wine publishing in 1988. Lived in Switzerland for 11 years. Publisher and editor behind the best-selling wine-encyclopedia World Of Wine both in Sweden and on the german-speaking market. Has won several prizes and awards. Among them:

1999: Awarded Grand Prize from The Swedish Wine Academy

2003: Awarded Wine personality of the year – Munskänkarna

2005: Won the title Wine nose of the year – Vin & Spritmuseum

2014: Awarded Golden Pen – The Swedish Gastronomical Academy

2019: Awarded Swedish Wine Ambassador 2018

A selection of books

World of Wine – wine-encyclopedia. Sweden, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Three editions.

World of Wine School – in swedish and german. Three editions. Spitzenweingüter, in german.

Lätt att prova vin – Wine Tasting Made Easy. In swedish.

Wine Quiz. In swedish.

Vägarna Bästa and White Guide. restaurant guide in 15 editions.

Dr Carisse works as plant pathologist with Agriculture and AgriFood Canada since 1992. She is a plant pathologist and a world expert in molecular aerobiology, crop disease management and theoretical crop disease modeling. During the last decade, Dr Carisse’ research has taken a path of increasing specialization and of integration of various disciplines namely aerobiology, epidemiology, mathematical modeling, decision/sampling theory and molecular quantification of pathogens inoculum and resistance to fungicides. The resulting knowledge landscape is a powerful driver for solving crop disease problems and for adoptions by stakeholders. She is working with the industry to implement networks of airborne pathogens and fungicide resistance monitoring and improved disease management decision systems. She was awarded by the Canadian Society of Plant Pathology Outstanding Research Award (2015) and elected foreign correspondent of the French Academy of Agriculture. She is spokesperson for the AAFC Biovigilance research initiative which aim at promoting research on temporal and spatial evolution and management of plant pests and ecological services as influenced by agricultural systems, farming practices, and climate change.

Paul has four decades of industry experience working in restaurants, retail, wineries, and as a strategic consultant. He assists U.S. and international companies on developing and implementing marketing and sales strategies for the U.S. market. His clients range from start-ups to fourth generation wineries, from artisan winemakers to global corporations, and many of the leading entrepreneurs and visionaries in the alternative, eco-packaging movement. Since 1997, Tincknell & Tincknell have provided consultation and assistance to domestic and international wineries and industry related business. Services include business, product, marketing, and sales strategies; brand identity development; packaging design; alternative wine packaging; and coaching in national, wholesale, and retail sales.

Sigrid Gertsen-Schibbye started fostering a passion for fermentation early in life, while filling bottles for cider fermentations in the basement of the family home near Montreal, Canada. After a degree in Microbiology from McGill University, life has taken flight with living near Niagara Falls, to San Francisco and onwards to a small village in Denmark, always guided by the need to speak about the wonderful world of microbes.

Working in Minnesota, Tom Plocher has been involved in cold climate viticulture since 1980. He is well known for co-authoring (with Bob Parke) the book Northern Winework: Growing Grapes and Making Wine in Cold Climates. Since 1996. Tom also has pursued his own grape breeding program, concentrating on new grape varieties for red wine. His varieties, Petite Pearl, Crimson Pearl, and Verona, are commercially-grown in 25 states and in 3 provinces of Canada. Together with winemaker Rod Ballinger at Bear Creek Winery in Fargo, ND, Tom has amassed a decade of experience with making wines from the Crimson Pearl grape. Through his company, Plocher-Vines LLC, Tom continues his breeding work, focusing on sustainability and issues created by climate change.

I was trained as an open air horticulturist with focus on fruit and berry production and finished my MSc in Horticultural Sciences in 1991 with a thesis on dormancy models for prediction of flowering in trees. As PhD student I initiated my scientific career in Pomology under supervision of Professor Poul Hansen. The PhD thesis entitled ‘Physiological aspects of internal competition and seasonal changes in fruit composition – with special reference to black currant (Ribes nigrum)’ was defended in the spring 1995. Then a postdoc period followed at the University in Bonn by professor F. Lenz at the ‘Institute für Obst und Gemüsebau’. The research focus was on the carbon balance of fruits. By the end of 1996 I returned to Copenhagen where I took over as scientific responsible for the Pometum in Taastrup and the research and teaching in fruit science/Pomology. In my research as associate professor I have worked with a wide range of fruit crops, and always with a strong focus on fruit development and fruit quality. The grape vine came in from early on as an important reference point to the studies of other berries and fruits but soon developed in to a new fruit crop in focus of its own right. In 2006 I took initiative together with some colleges at the Department of Food Science to run a course in ‘Cool Climate Viticulture and Enology’ at our university. So for more than 15 years I have been working with the growing of grape vine and in 2010 also established an experimental cellar at the Pometum. In the work with viticulture and enology I have always had a close contact to the university in Geisenheim and this was in 2020 supplemented with a new cooperation with the grape breeders at Geilweilerhof (JKI) focusing on development of new cultivars for Northern Europe/Scandinavia.

Spirited winemaker, farmer, entrepreneur and advocate of food tourism who dabbles in travel, languages, fermented things and drinking fermented things.

Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Elaine Chukan Brown

Greg Jones

J. Stephen Casscles

All Speakers

Andréanne Hébert-Haché

Aude Watrelot

Daniel Paredes

Deirdre Heekin

Drew Horton

Elsa Petit

Eric Amberg

Ethan Joseph

Evelyne Barriault

Geena Luckett

Harrison Wright

Imed Dami

Jason Londo

Jean-Benoit Deslauriers

Jeff Munroe

Jim Ballard

Jim Trezise

John Thull

Karine Pedneault

Kathline Chery

Katie Cook

Kendra Knapik

Lisa Francioni

Matthieu Dubernet

Mikael Molstad

Odile Carisse

Paul Tincknell

Sigrid Gertsen Schibbye

Tom Plocher

Torben Toldam-Andersen

Zach Everett