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20 Wines&Vines February 2015 wine industry news N apa, Calif.—Accomplished winemakers from Ramey, Beaulieu, Quivira and other top wineries will share their research and practical experience with oak in the educational ses- sions and tastings at the Wines & Vines Oak Conference on Feb. 11 in Napa, Calif. The one-day confer- ence was created with winemakers and winery purchasing managers in mind, and it will be accompa- nied by a focused trade show. The conference sessions will cover everything from new barrel features to barrel maintenance, oak add-ins to stretching your oak bud- get with a multi-year barrel inven- tory, and how to secure your barrel stacks against earthquake damage. Speakers will include noted researchers in tannin and oak as well as winemakers from pre- mium Napa and Sonoma County properties including Jeffrey Stam- bor of Beaulieu Vineyard, Hugh Chappelle from Quivira Vine- yards, Janet Myers from Francis- can Estate, Richard Sowalsky from Clos Pegase, Scot Covington of Trione Vineyards & Winery and Zeke Neeley from Trefethen Fam- ily Vineyards. David Ramey of Ramey Wine Cellars is the featured winemaker speaker, and he will address "The Care and Feeding of Oak Barrels: 35 Years of Trial and Error." As of Jan. 12, a limited number of full-day tickets were still avail- able at $199. These cover the hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and include breakfast, lunch, conference ses- sions, a tasting session (on a first- come, first-served basis) and closing wine reception. Wines & Vines just added a new $39 exhibits + lunch pass for win- ery personnel who wish to attend the trade show but not the confer- ence sessions. Lunch will include wines from Ramey and other par- ticipating wineries. See the full schedule, speaker roster and reg- istration page at wvoak.com. The exhibits will include 35 barrel and oak tank makers, oak add-in manufacturers, barrel- cleaning and sanitation suppliers and other oak-related wine indus- try vendors. The venue is the for- mer Copia building at 500 First St. in Napa, Calif. Dr. James A Kennedy, professor and chair of the De- partment of Viticul- ture and Enology at California State Uni- versity, Fresno, will present the latest re- search findings about oak and tannin. Dr. Andrei Prida, director of research and development for Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage, will fol- low Kennedy's pre- sentation. Prida will discuss the correla- t i o n b e t w e e n t h e compounds extracted from wood and the sensory percep- tion of wines aged in barrels. Making barrel rooms safer will be the focus of a talk by Joshua Marrow P.E., technical director of Partner Engineering and Science Inc. Marrow has been researching earthquake safety for years and will also present fresh observa- tions based on the 6.0-magnitude quake that hit Napa, Calif., early Aug. 24, 2014. — Jim Gordon Top Winemakers to Speak at W&V Oak Conference Winemaker Jeffrey Stambor of Beaulieu Vineyard is among the speakers scheduled for the Wines & Vines Oak Conference to be held in Napa, Calif. DIAGEO