February 23, 2005
Forum Will Provide Tips on Grape-Growing, Wine-Making
LINCOLN, Neb. — Grape experts from across the country will offer beginning and experienced grape growers information about the health benefits of wine, marketing wine and successfully growing grapes at an upcoming conference.
The eighth annual Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Forum and Trade Show will be March 4-5 at the Holiday Inn in Kearney, said Paul Read, University of Nebraska viticulturist and conference organizer.
"The conference will help growers be better educated in terms of how to maximize grape quality and improve fruit quality that will result in better wines," he said.
The program will begin at 9:30 a.m. March 4 with the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association's annual business meeting followed by the trade show at 11 a.m. The trade show will feature winery and vineyard equipment suppliers, industry association representatives and marketing experts.
Presentations will begin at 1:15 p.m. Featured speakers include: keynote speaker Ed Hellman, associate professor and extension specialist in viticulture, Texas A & M University, who will present "Adventures in Viticulture: My experiences in Kansas, Oregon and Texas"; Perky Ramroth, wine industry analyst from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, who will present "Federal Application Process for New Wineries;" Elizabeth Slater, owner of In Short Direct Marketing of Windsor, Calif., who will present "State of Marketing When You Are Marketing the State;" and Jim Jeffers of James Arthur Vineyards near Raymond, who will present "The Realities of Growing Grapes in Nebraska."
The day will conclude with a reception and banquet. The banquet, "A Night of Great Food, Great Wine and Ragtime," will feature Nebraska wines selected to match the meal's courses. Giacomo M. Oliva, dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will present his "Ragtime Lecture Recital."
On March 5, the trade show will open at 8 a.m. At that time, participants also can attend one of three concurrent sessions: advanced viticulture, wineries and winemaking, and viticulture basics. The
program concludes at 3 p.m. following afternoon program choices of attending the trade show, technical seminars about exhibitor representatives or a seminar on marketing Nebraska's wines.
Registration is $100 for members of the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association and $110 for nonmembers. Registration at the door is $120. The banquet is $40.
For more information or to register, contact Read at (402) 472-5136 or e-mail pread1@unl.edu; Donna Michel at (402) 472-8747 or e-mail dmichel@unl.edu; or visit the University of Nebraska's viticulture Web site.
The event is sponsored by the university's viticulture program, Nebraska Cooperative Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association.
2/23/05-SGA
Paul Read - Ph.D.
Agronomy & Horticulture
Professor
(402) 472-5136
Sandi Alswager Karstens IANR News and Photography (402) 472-3030
Department: Agronomy & Horticulture
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