Sensory analysis: sustainable viticulture as tribute to the wine quality

For the 2015 edition of Simei – International Enological and Bottling Equipment Exhibition – the World Leader in wine technology and the only international biennial exhibition which presents at the same time machinery, equipment and products for production, bottling and packaging of all drinks, Unione Italiana Vini has confirmed its commitment in the organization of global hot topics congresses.

Two different but strictly connected events will involve the most authoritative international experts of the viticulture scientific community. Prominent personalities have already been invited to participate in two complementary Steering Committees, chaired by two recognized international icons, the likes of Ettore Capri (Opera Research Centre- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) and Anita Oberholster (Enology Department of Viticulture and Enology- UC Davis).

Stakeholders from the wine chain will fully be involved: farmers, service providers, operators of sustainability programs, retailers and the trade in general, as well as consumers will be called to participate in an event that will exploit modern techniques of interactive participation.
This is the natural sequel of the International Congress that was held during Simei 2013 (SUSTAINABLE VITICULTURE AND WINE PRODUCTION: STEPS AHEAD TOWARD A GLOBAL AND LOCAL CROSS-FERTILIZATION).

The workshops will take place in OST (Open Space Technology) with two named but strictly connected congresses and 5 sessions in the overall, each session being self-supporting and usable by participants also “per session”, while the overall duration of the event will be one and a half days. Simei’s veterans Natasha Walker (international facilitator) and Alexandru Marchis will moderate the meetings and allow the participants to focus on the content development, and each work session will end with a plenary discussion and a survey of the participants.
In each of the plenary sessions the stakeholders will try to give answers to the main questions regarding specific issues related to sustainability and sensory analysis.

The main theme will be a modern understanding of the word “sustainability”. In every definition of Sustainability it is stated that it is a balance of social, cultural, economic and environmental needs of today and tomorrow, but the main focus is often only on the environmental pillar. Previous attempts to judge sustainability in wine production have left out the social and cultural aspects, allowing wines to appear sustainable that lack taste quality, while taste (sensory analysis) is one of the most relevant indicators for the sustainability of wines.
Prominent personalities from the major wine producing countries (Australia, California, South America, New Zealand, Europe) and the moderator will help to provide a response through the presentation and discussion of the main themes of each session, pledging to stimulate tangible content and strong conclusions.

At the end of each facilitated plenary session, the discussion will “flow” in an open and efficient discussion, where every stakeholder have the chance to interact directly with the panelists. This strong interactive character has a distinctive appearance that characterizes all the conventions of Unione Italiana Vini and provides a shared and content-relevant output of the conference.

The conference will report the state of the art on the theme at 2 years distance from the “general states” held in Simei 2013, identifying the main needs and deficiencies in terms of guidelines and consequent good practices to be adopted worldwide.

Source: Simei

Olio Officina