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20 WINES&VINES July 2015 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS S an Rafael, Calif.—Speakers at the Wines & Vines Packaging Conference on Aug. 19 will approach the topic from a technical point of view as well as a marketing angle. Recently confirmed as technical speak- ers for the one-day conference in Napa, Calif., include winemakers from California and Or- egon, an enologist from California State Uni- versity, Fresno, and the president of ETS Laboratories, Gordon Burns. Burns is perhaps the best-informed person in the U.S. wine industry on the topic of quality control in natural corks, and he will speak about "Demys- tifying Cork Quality Assurance." ETS not o n l y c o n d u c t s t h e Cork Quality Coun- cil's program to pre- vent TCA occurrence for cork suppliers, it also helps wineries detect faults in the corks they buy. As an i n d e p e n d e n t t h i r d party, Burns is in an excellent position to report exactly how cork quality assurance works and to explain the current status of TCA in natural corks. In a combined lecture and tasting, Hend Letaief, Ph.D., assistant professor of wine chemistry at CSU Fresno, will present her re- search on "Variation in Total Package Oxygen During Bottling." Wines with different levels of total package oxygen will be presented for tasting, to demonstrate how widely wines in the same day's bottling run can vary in sensory attributes over time. The Wines & Vines Packaging Confer- ence will take place Aug. 19 at 500 First St. (the former Copia building) in Napa, Calif. It is intended for winery personnel i n c l u d i n g o w n e r s , w i n e ma k e r s , s a l e s and marketing direc- tors, purchasing managers, bottling line su- pervisors and others. Conference sessions, breakfast, lunch, a targeted trade show and wine reception are all included in the $199 registration fee. Two other prominent speakers will address the marketing opportunities in package design. Joe Wagner of Napa Valley's Wagner Family of Wine—and recently the founder of Copper Cane Wine & Provisions—will talk about how great design and packaging innovations helped his family create fast-growing luxury wine brands including Caymus, Mer Soleil, Belle Glos and Meiomi. Andrew Haney of The Nielsen Co. will present the results of an exclusive consumer study done specifically for the conference. The study measures brand image in consumers' minds and then compares it to consumers' impressions of that brand's shelf appeal. This type of study reveals whether a product's packaging is hurting or helping the brand's image in general. In its second year, the conference has added a new interactive hour, during which attendees can have a "speed date" with a leading de- signer, enjoy a new sparkling wine showcase with tasting and judge entries in a wine pack- aging competition. The inaugural packaging conference drew nearly 350 attendees. For more information and to register, visit wvpack.com. —Wines & Vines staff D avis, Calif.—The newest faculty member of the De- partment of Viticulture & Enology at the University of Cali- fornia, Davis, will focus on devel- oping alternative products and processes for winemaking to re- duce waste and improve sustain- ability. Dr. Ron Runnebaum discussed his research goals at the department's annual Recent Ad- vances in Viticulture & Enology (RAVE) meeting May 14. He observed: "In winemaking, 60% of the product (by weight) is used for wine, and 40% (by weight) goes out as waste prod- ucts. Although grape stems, seeds and pomace are often composted and recycled, we want to look at what improvements are possible within the winemak- ing process to reduce waste or to reuse other byproducts." One of his first projects will involve evaluating and devel- oping alternatives to the use of bentonite for protein fining in winemaking. Runnebaum also will evaluate materials and meth- ods to capture and reuse emissions from fermentation such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), ethanol and VOCs. The UC Davis Teaching and Re- search Winery was designed to capture CO 2 from fermentation with a piping system to transfer it into the adjacent Jess S. Jack- son Sustainable Win- ery Building. "One of the chal- lenges is not only the science of developing new technologies, but also the econom- ics of taking those technologies success- fully into the market," Runnebaum observed. "An advantage we have with the Jackson Sustainable Win- ery Building is that we can take research off the lab benchtop and try it on a slightly larger scale to see what changes, and what needs improvement, as we go to a larger commercial scale application." In addition to research, Run- nebaum will teach classes in win- ery design, wine stability and distilled beverage technology. Also during the RAVE meeting, V&E Department chair Dr. David Block said he expects to announce the selection of a new extension viticulturist based at the depart- ment's Oakville Station before the end of this year. He also expects the department to add two new faculty members within the next two years. —Ted Rieger Two Points of View on Packaging Professor Researches Ways to Reduce Wine Byproducts Hend Letaief Gordon Burns Ron Runnebaum Attendees can choose online from two tasting sessions during registration.