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 With 4-weeks left for the first-ever conference being held in Portugal, at the beautiful sea0side resort town of Cascais, barely 15 minutes from the Lisbon airport, it’s time to reflect on the event that also offers an opportunity to taste several wines and visit the beautiful cities of Portugal including Lisbon and various wineries in the country- like Dão, Douro Valley, Vinho Verde, Porto and Alentejo and taste a range of wines produced from indigenous grapes.
Speakers from all over the world will be presenting analyses and suggesting solutions to the challenges of the present and formulating concepts for the wine business of the future. Along with addressing the evolving demands of viticulture, the conference will offer exciting ideas about wine marketing and communications, as well as presenting innovative possibilities for wine sales.
The Conference is reminiscent of a couple of wine summits titled Wine Future, organised in Logroño (Rioja, Spain) in 2009 followed by Hong Kong in 2011 where the line-up of speakers including Robert Parker was so impressive that had made even Jancis Robinson MW to remark to a group of us that she was amazed how the organiser Pancho Campo, then a Master of Wine was able to collect so many wine celebrities to come on the stage together.
Interaction in and among the wine sector has grown even more global since that time. This makes the presentations given by speakers from far-flung countries at ‘MUST – Fermenting Ideas’ equally valuable. For example, Mariette du Toit-Helmbold from South Africa will be bringing her expertise in matters of tourism with her to the Atlantic coast of Portugal. Stephen Li will lead participants through the various winegrowing regions of China, while Paz Levinson from Argentina will speak about the challenges facing a sommelier.
Each speaker will also bring an outlook and overview to the summit that they have built upon wide-ranging, international experience. Australian Felicity Carter lives in Germany is the editor-in-chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International. Professor Huiqin Ma teaches at China’s Agricultural University, having studied in Israel, South Africa and the United States, and worked on wine projects in Australia, Portugal and Chile. She has also been a fellow panellist judge at Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Competition (HKIWSC). Experts from UK, USA, Canada, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal will Speak and discuss and compare diverse perspectives and apply them to projections about the future of winemaking.
From Soil to the Palate
Besides the geographic diversity the summit features specialists from a wide range of disciplines. One will listen to a variety of speakers from the varietal genetics José Vouillamoz to the tourism expert Natalia Velikova. The doyen of Port, Paul Symington brings in his decades of experience in wine production with a staggering wealth of experience in the international wine trade.
Cathy Huyghe collects data concerning the wine world for her company. She can draw exact conclusions about wine buying & sales at present , as well as offer projections for the future. Selling to the youth is one of the biggest challenges and opportunities in today’s demographics including India. Communications expert Lulie Halstead will provide information on how to reach the millennial generation with wine. Wine-educator and sommelier Geoff Kruth will be there to speak on whatis required in order to serve wine in the appropriate fashion.
The opinions of veteran wine critics are interesting too for the connoisseurs. New York Times wine writer Eric Asimov will give a talk on underappreciated grape varieties, while Spanish critic Victor de la Serna will put European wine producing regions under the microscope. The trending topic ‘natural wine’ will be covered by Alice Feiring as well as Jamie Goode. The hot discussion on whether English sparkling wine is better than Champagne will be carried out by Matthew Jukes. Michelle Bouffard will lead the debate on whether Canada, the king of Ice-wine would alsoestablish its supremacy in other wines.
The charming sea-side locale on the Atlantic Coast provides a blissful and picturesque setting for this summit meeting. The cost for the conference at € 920+VAT makes it accessible to a select few who do not count pennies and are truly wine connoisseurs looking for an extra edge in tasting, knowledge or contacts. They would be happy to know that they can nevertheless save €200+ by booking before 31 May at a discounted price of € 720 +VAT.
For tickets and any other information please contact the organisers directly at www.mustfermentingideas.com
Alt.email: arora@delwine.com |