Curtain Raiser for Wine Future Virtual Conference on 23-26 Feb

An all-star line-up of celebrities will join Speakers, and entertainers during each day's 15- minute break and make the third edition aim to address the challenges of the wine industry Post- Covid. It will also seek solutions to the resulting economic repercussions as well as the Crisis due to Climate Change already being faced today. The Conference hopes to be inspirational to the wine businesses and individuals affected globally.

Francis Ford Coppola - the legendary Hollywood director and owner of wineries in Napa and Sonoma will make the keynote opening speech of Wine Future 2021. Irina Bokova-Director General UNESCO, Manuel Butler- Executive Director of United Nations World and Pau Roca, Director General of OIV will also deliver keynote addresses to the delegates.

Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola and his family expanded his business ventures to include winemaking in California's Napa Valley in 1975 when he produced wine under the Niebaum-Coppola label. After purchasing the Inglenook Winery in 1995, he renamed the winery Rubicon Estate Winery in 2006. In 2011, Coppola acquired the Inglenook trademark and announced that the estate would once again be known by its original name, Inglenook. The Francis Ford Coppola Winery is located near Geyserville, California. He is as passionate about winemaking as film making (he is the legendary producer of Godfather and several blockbuster hits).

Also Read : Wine Future 2021: Wine Tourism Webinar with Michele Shah

Celebrity Guests

Celebrity Guests appearing at Wine Future are Matthew Goode-an English actor with a long film career, known for his roles in The Good Wife, The Downton Abbey and The Crown.  He also co-stars in The Wine Show, a documentary series on Amazon Prime Video (not available in India unfortunately)/YouTube.

Ernie Els is a South African- a former World No. 1 professional golfer who Owns a golf course design business, a charitable foundation which supports golf among underprivileged youth in South Africa, and a winemaking business in Stellenbosch.

David Farrell (aka Phoenix)

Farrell is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Linkin Park which has sold over 100 million records worldwide. In 2012, the band was voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s. In 2014, it was declared as The Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now.

Also Read : Zoom into Wine Future with Pancho Campo on 23-25 February 2021

John Smit is a South African former rugby union player and former CEO of the Sharks. As the 50th captain of the South Africa national team, he led the team to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He retired from international rugby following the 2011 Rugby World Cup as the most-capped South African player ever, with 111 appearances and was inducted into the Hall of Fame on 24 October 2011 while still active at club level.

Some of the other participating Speakers perhaps known to the Indian wine professionals are Eduardo Chadwick-President of Viña Errazuriz (Chile), Dr. Laura Catena, MD of Catena Wines (Argentina), Jean-Charles-Boisset of Boisset Collections and the Collaborator with Fratelli Wines of Z’NOON wines in India, Robert Joseph-well known English journalist and producer of Le Grand Noir wines distributed in India through Sula Vineyards, Stevie Kim-MD of Vinitaly International, Elin McCoy-US journalist writing for Bloomberg, Antonio Amorim-President of Amorim, the largest cork producer in the world and Aurelio Montes of Montes-Chairman of the Wines of Chile.

Also Read : Winefuture Hong Kong Impresses in Parts

The List of Speakers may be viewed by clicking HERE

About 2000 delegates from 60 countries, including 50 journalists are expected to register for the Conference at a nominal Registration charge of €125. A limited number of delegates who are members of groups like the Indian Wine Academy will be entitled to a special price of €65. (Please write to arora@delwine.com for the discount code to Register at special prices.

The Conference will be organised on 23-26 February 2021 via Zoom with 80+ wine industry experts conducting 24 sessions and speeches addressing a wide range of timely topics impacting all aspects of wine industry. The sessions will be held between 1600-2000 CET every day. English will be the language of communication with instant Translation into Spanish. The time translates to 830 pm- 1230 am- very convenient for Indian viewers who may attend over a glass of wine before and during dinner and continue watching after dinner.

Cav. Subhash Arora will participate in Session 9 on February 24 at 19.15-20.00 (11:45 pm-1230 am IST). The Topic will be MULTINATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS: TRADE, TRANSPORT, PACKAGING, EMBARGOES. Speakers will be António Amorim (PT) - CEO, Amorim, Subhash Arora (IN) - President, Indian Wine Academy, Pierre Corvisier (FR)- Global Director New Services, Hillebrand and Siobhan Thompson (ZA) - CEO, Wines of South Africa. They will share broad perspectives in how these industries are coping with the ever-complicated nature of international trade that requires them to quickly and effectively respond to shifting governmental requirements, financial imperatives, and consumer demands in order to maintain economic viability keeping in mind market changes and customer expectations. The Session will be moderated by Mónica Muñoz (ES) - President, Mercados del Vino y la Distribución.

Entertainment

During each day's 15- minute break Wine Future 2021 will feature live and recorded entertainment coordinated by Dan Nicholl, host of South Africa's The Dan Nicholl Show and the successful Dan Really Likes Wine series. In 2016, he broke the South African auction record for a single bottle of wine, selling the maiden offering of the Touch Warwick Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 from the Warwick Estate (of which Mike Ratcliffe, a Speaker at the Conference is the President) at a staggering ZAR 1.3-million (US$88,000). He will feature interviews with the celebrity guests, virtual visits to wine regions, wine tourism, live and recorded music, and a range of other cultural performances during these breaks.

Silent Auction

The Wine Future will also conduct a charitable silent auction of wines donated by three NGOs from Portugal, South Africa and California. There are very interesting lots donated by Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Krug, Opus One, Banfi, Taylor’s, Almaviva, Felton Road and many others. To bid for some of these lots, visit www.winefuture2021.com

Wine Future

Hosted by Pancho Campo, a former Master of Wine and president of Chrand Events, and Co-hosted by a well-known journalist David Furer, Wine Future was first organised in Rioja in 2009, just after the global economic meltdown, to analyse the situation and provide ideas, solutions and inspiration for wine professionals suffering its consequences. The second edition in Hong Kong in 2011 turned to Asia's burgeoning markets, new consumers, and expansion of opportunities with wine tastings conducted by Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson and attended by 3000 participants from 70 countries. 

Also Read : Winefuture ‘11: Taste That Beats the Others Cold

I hope to see many of my wine friends from across the globe-and also from India Zoom in at the Wine Future 2021.  

Program

Subhash Arora

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