Climate Change & Wine Conference to be Held April 13th & 14th in Spain
The third edition of the World Conference on Climate Change and Wine, organized by the Wine Academy of Spain, will happen 13/14 April, 2011 in the beautiful city of Marbella, Spain. The past two editions were held 2006 and 2008 in Barcelona with the participation of luminaries such as Michel Rolland, Richard Smart, Jacques Lurton, Greg Jones, Hans Schultz, Miguel Torres, Pascal Chattonet, Bruno Prats, Ernst Loosen and many others. The 2008 edition featured a video conference by former US Vice-President Al Gore speaking to the more than 400 attendees of the climate crisis and answering more than twenty questions.
The third edition of the World Conference on Climate Change and Wine, organized by the Wine Academy of Spain, will happen 13/14 April, 2011 in the beautiful city of Marbella, Spain. The past two editions were held 2006 and 2008 in Barcelona with the participation of luminaries such as Michel Rolland, Richard Smart, Jacques Lurton, Greg Jones, Hans Schultz, Miguel Torres, Pascal Chattonet, Bruno Prats, Ernst Loosen and many others. The 2008 edition featured a video conference by former US Vice-President Al Gore speaking to the more than 400 attendees of the climate crisis and answering more than twenty questions.
The Marbella conference intends to show some of the initiatives that are being implemented around the world to mitigate the effects of climate change and adapt to a new climate scenario. We also want to show practical cases of vineyard relocation and experiments being conducted with various varieties. For example, Concha y Toro of Chile will show their studies featuring satellite imagery looking for cooler places found along river banks, vines which are now in production with currently marketed wines. This presentation is a perfect example of how the results of a research project can be used to produce quality wines with a commercial application. The tasting master class will also feature wines from Viña Emiliana exemplifying how biodynamic viticulture may be used to cope with climate change. The final part of the tasting will show Grenache-based wines as an example of a grape variety suitable to extreme temperatures and drought.
One of the interesting topics to be discussed will be of different viticulture techniques being implemented to combat climate change. Canopy management and precision viticulture will be presented by Steve Smit as options to adapt to a new climate while France's Nicolas Joly and Claude Bourguignon will analyze the role of organic and biodynamic viticulture applications. Agustín Santolaya from Rioja will present a study conducted by Bodegas Roda with almost 500 clones of tempranillo designed to develop clones to show improved resistance to higher temperatures, drought, and water stress. Canadian Steve Smith will show what improvements Constellation Brands is implementing in its California operations to allow them to adapt to higher vineyard temperatures.
The conference's technical committee believes that prevention is the key factor; this is why we've included several speakers who will speak about sustainable practices to reduce emissions of CO2 and energy consumption, waste management, and packaging issues. Ms. Nicola Jenkin from WRAP will show the impact of transportation and packaging in the emmissions of CO2 while Patrick Spencer from the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance will speak about the importance of closures in relation to CO2 sequestration. Another panel will discuss the role of journalists, media, social networks for creating awareness about the environment. Juan Park of Wine Intellingence will speak about consumer perception towards sustainability, climate change, organics, and biodynamics. Inge Kotze from South Africa will emphasize the importance of hydric resources, its relation to climate change, and how the wine industry can adapt to a lack of water.
Other speakers include Fernando Zamora, Carlos Falco, Paul Symington and Ricardo Cotarella who will speak about handling the impacts of climate change at the winery level and from an enology point of view. The Cenit Demeter Project, a research initiative of 27 Spanish wine companies led by Miguel Torres, will be represented by a scientist who will speak about studies of yeasts able to handle increasing alcohol levels, microbiology studies, and wineries' ability to adapt with this. A panel comprised of Dominique Moncomble from the CIVC and Jaume Gramona from Cavas Gramona will examine the impact of climate change upon the sparkling wine industry.
The primary goal of April's conference in Marbella is to convince the wine industry of its responsibility to take a more active role in adapting to a changing climate by implementing sustainable practices. Towards this end our featured speaker, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will outline the importance of sustainability, the environment, and climate change in the corporate world. The former Nobel Prize winner will challenge companies to become leading actors in sustainable development. Mr. Annan will target not only members of the wine industry but also business people, university and high school students, journalists, and residents of the Costa del Sol. His speech will be followed by a 30-minute question & answer session. After this speech, a charity Gala Dinner benefiting the Vicente Ferrer Foundation, an organization bringing aid to over 2.5 million people in India, will take place at the luxurious Hotel Los Monteros.
The conference also features a Trade Show Area where almost 100 companies and wineries can show their products and wines. “In all our events we promote interaction and networking amongst participants and speakers. This is why we always include this Trade Show Area,” declared Rony Bacque, Business Manager for The Wine Academy of Spain. There are also numerous incentives for people interested in attending such as special rates at Marbella´s best hotels, discounts for groups, scholarships for MW and Diploma students. Wine professionals, students, and winery representatives interested in attending can visit www.climatechangeandwine.com or contact The Wine Academy of Spain at info@thewineacademy.com.