Where the Wine Trade Gathers: Unified Symposium
Oddly, in California events meant purely for trades people of the wine industry are few and far between. It’s odd of course because you’d think that given the size and importance of wine to California there would be more organized “give and takes”.
We have meetings…boy do we have meetings! There are countless organizations. Appellation associations, political associations, promotional associations. But most of these organizational associations” events are for the public.
From January 25 to January 27, however, California wines executives, winemakers, marketers and even cellar rats gather in Sacramento for the only trade event of any size: The United Wine & Grape Symposium.
“Unified” is a essentially a convention of vendors who set up booths to sell their barrels, stainless steel tanks, presses, chemicals, vineyard equipment, publishers, software…if it’s sold to wineries and growers, it’s on display at Unified.
The event is sponsored by the American Society of Enology and Viticulture and Unified Symposium. While the three day gathering is a chance to kick the tires and look under the hood of the best in winemaking and viticulture, for many of us it’s the seminars that draw us to Sacramento.
Among the 22 topics presented at this year’s Unified Symposium:
“Relationship Marketing/Direct to Consumer”
“Using Berry Color as an Indicator of Wine Quality”
“Evolving Contract issues: Beyond Brix”
“Alternative Packaging: What you need to know now”
“Cultural Trends and Branding Trends”
“Enological Tannins in Winemaking”
Information on the Unified Symposium can be found at www.unifiedsymposium.org
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