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September 2016 WINES&VINES 61 WINE EAST WINE INDUSTRY NEWS S t. Louis, Mo.—The Ameri- can Society for Enology and Viticulture-Eastern Section held its annual confer- ence in St. Louis from July 18 to 21. The pre-conference tour of local wineries took advantage of the location to explore the state's wine history as well as its current wine industry. Conference attendees visited Stone Hill Winery, founded in Her- mann, Mo., in 1856, and Montelle Vineyards in the first American Viticultural Area, the Augusta AVA. During Prohibition, mush- rooms were grown in the wine caves at Stone Hill. Jim and Betty Held reopened the winery in 1970; today the winery produces about 100,000 cases per year. Montelle was one of the petition- ers for the first AVA, which was approved in 1980. Some of the talks at the con- ference included: Fritz Westover of Houston, Texas-based Westo- ver Vineyard Advising, speaking about impacting grower deci- sions in an age of technical over- load; Andrew Reynolds of Brock University, speaking about both proximal sensing technology and remote sensing using unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones; Jean-Philippe Roby of the Bor- deaux Sciences Agro looking at terroir not as a static concept, but as an inter-related ecosystem in perpetual evolution; and Chin-Feng Hwang of Missouri State University discussing mo- lecular genetics to improve Nor- ton grapes. Dr. Bruce Bordelon, professor of viticulture at Purdue University, received the Eastern Section's Outstanding Achievement Award and was recognized as being an outstanding teacher known for "being everywhere in the Midwest and helping everybody." Eastern Section established a new student scholarship award in honor of Dr. Bill Nail, a board member and secretary of the East- ern Section who passed away April 10. The 2016 scholarship was presented to Andrej Svyantek of Auburn University. At the annual business meet- ing, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, professor of plant sciences at North Dakota State University, became the new chairperson, and Denise Gardner, enology extension associate in the de- partment of food science at Pe n n S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, w a s named chairperson-elect. The next annual conference for the ASEV-Eastern Section will be held July 10-13, 2017, in Charlot- tesville, Va. —Linda Jones McKee Wine East Covering Eastern North America ASEV-Eastern Section Meets in St. Louis What's in the Package? Bill Lutz, Founder, Waterloo Container • Customer service before and after the sale • Experience to solve your problems • Extensive expertise in the wine packaging industry • Personalized inventory management and delivery planning • Package Branding Solutions 888-539-3922 • waterloocontainer.com Stephen Menke (left) turns over the Eastern Section gavel to new chair, Harlene Hatterman-Valenti.