Abstract submissions now open for International Cool Climate Wine Symposium
The International Cool Climate Wine Symposium (ICCWS) is coming to Canada next summer and is now accepting abstract submissions.
From July 12 to 16, 2020, leading researchers, winemakers, grape growers, educators and media from around the world will gather at Brock University for the 10th instalment of the symposium, which takes place every four years.
ICCWS conference sessions will include viticulture, oenology, wine business and science communication. Each of the four themes will include a number of speakers, seminars, master classes and workshops. Abstract registration is now open for technical sessions and poster presentations with conference registration to follow later this month.
Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) is planning the event, alongside its research and industry partners across the country. This is the first time the conference has come to Canada and it will focus on how climate change is driving innovation in the grape and wine industry.
Brock is pleased to welcome Nobel prize-winning physicist Brian Schmidt as the opening keynote speaker. Schmidt is an expert in issues of climate change and has his own cool climate vineyard and winery. He is also the Vice Chancellor and President of the Australian National University.
President of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), Regina Vanderlinde, has been named as the oenology keynote speaker and will talk about the global wine overview to climate adaptation and the challenges of adopting new technology in wineries.
Elizabeth Wolkovich from the University of British Columbia will share her research on how climate change affects different winegrape varieties and how shifting varieties may help growers as the viticulture keynote speaker.
The science communication keynote speaker will be Kimberly Nicholas, an Associate Professor of Sustainability Science at Lund University in Sweden. Her research focuses on sustainable farming systems, the wine industry under climate change, and linking research with policy and practice to support a zero-emissions society.
In addition to the conference sessions at Brock, in the heart of the Niagara wine region, those attending will also have the opportunity to participate in pre- and post-conference programming that will showcase Canada’s wine regions from coast-to-coast.
International delegates will be introduced to Canadian wines and local culinary offerings through a number of special farm-to-table dinner options at local wineries, a “Taste of Canada” event and banquet dinner at Brock University.