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December 2015 WINES&VINES 21 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS The wrapping comes off at the 2016 Unifed Wine Symposium in Sacramento, January 27 and 28. For more inFormation, contact atP at (707) 836-6840 or online at www. americantartaric.com S t. Helena, Calif.—What bet- ter place to hold a confer- ence about perfecting the use of oak in winemaking than the Greystone Cellars campus of The Culinary Institute of America? Built as a winemaking coopera- tive, the landmark edifice on Main Street in St. Helena has housed wooden casks and barrels since it was dedicated in 1889. The enormous Barrel Room in Greystone, lined with antique oak oval casks, will be the main ses- sions and exhibits hall at the Wines & Vines Oak Conference on Feb. 10, 2016. Winemakers from Northern California and beyond are invited to register for the sec- ond-annual, one-day conference at wvoak.com to take advantage of six conference sessions, two tasting labs and an oak-focused trade show. Breakfast and lunch are included in registration. Speakers will include re- spected winemakers, coopers and others who will share recent trials, techniques and best practices for selecting, using and maintaining barrels and oak adjuncts to im- prove wine quality. Speakers at the first oak conference in Febru- ary 2015 included David Ramey of Ramey Wine Cellars, Jeffrey Stambor of Beaulieu Vineyard, Dr. James Kennedy of California State University, Fresno, and several others. Registrants for the 2016 con- ference can choose between one technical tasting lab featuring the latest results of barrel trials and another about oak adjunct trials from top-notch wineries. These will be conducted in the CIA Greystone EcoLab, a spacious pro- fessional culinary demonstration hall. In addition, a new feature this year will be the opportunity to taste trials at many of the con- ference sponsors' stations in the Barrel Room during breaks be- tween the sessions. Speakers and specific topics will be posted at wvoak.com. Reg- istration opens Dec. 1. —Wines & Vines staff Oak Conference a Natural Fit for CIA Greystone Attendees prepare for a guided tasting of oak trials at the 2015 Wines & Vines Oak Conference. The 2016 event will happen at CIA Greystone campus. " Winemakers will hear about the latest research, taste oak trials and chat with suppliers." —Jim Gordon, Wines & Vines