2019 MGGA Viticulture Field Day & MGGA/MVA Annual Meetings
The fourth annual joint Missouri Grape Growers Association Viticulture Field Day (VFD) and Missouri Vintners Association annual meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 27th at Les Bourgeois Vineyards Blufftop Bistro in Rocheport, MO.
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Thanks to the sponsorship of the Missouri Wine Marketing and Research Council and the Grape and Wine Institute, we are able to present Dr. Richard Smart, one of the world's most qualified and experienced viticultural scientist and consultant with more than 50 years experience, as our featured speaker.
Dr Smart is best known for his pioneering studies in winegrape canopy management, techniques applicable to modern, high vigour vineyards leading to improvements in yield and wine quality and reductions in some diseases. He is author of the award-winning definitive book on canopy management Sunlight into Wine.
Among recent interests has been grapevine trunk diseases, a problem which is threatening vineyards the whole world over. Dr Smart has attended and spoken to scientist and grower meetings on the subject as well as authoring many articles; he has developed pruning and training methods and protocols to overcome the problem in mature and young vineyards and in mothervine source blocks.
Dr Smart has been aware of fossil fuel burning-induced climate change since around 1974; he has been lecturing and writing about the implications for the world wine industry since. He is author of the saying the wine industry is the canary in the coalmine for the worlds agriculture. More recently his activities have concentrated on mitigating climate change by encouraging wine sector activities such as the use of prunings and pomace as an alternate energy source.
Throughout his career Richard Smart has had extensive contact with the wine making sector in Australia and overseas, and is familiar with wine making technology, wine products and the international wine market. He also has extensive experience speaking to farmers and grower organizations.
A feature of Richard Smarts career has been an interest in publication of technical articles in trade journals for the benefit of grape growers and winemakers. These publications number well over 200 in Australia, USA, NZ and more recently UK. He has also published scientific papers in journals and conference proceedings and books, including as the Viticulture Editor of the Oxford Companion to Wine.
Over recent years Dr Smart has co-authored papers about oenology, including development of a new red wine fermentation technique known as ACE which has led to the development of a commercial machine DTMA by Della Toffola of Italy.
Agenda
8:30 - 9:00
Registration/Meet with Sponsors & Exhibitors
9:00 - 9:10
Welcome and Introductions
9:10 - 12:00
Presentations
Identifying and Managing GrapevineTrunk Disease:
"Should we bother to control them, as does the rest of the world."
Canopy Management:
"How to do it properly for maximum profit and wine quality."
12:00 - 1:00
Lunch and Industry Updates
MO Grape and Wine Alliance
Missouri Wine & Grape Board
1:00 - 1:30 MGGA Business Meeting
1:00 - 1:30 MVA Business Meeting
1:30 - 4:00 Field Demonstrations: Grapevine Trunk Disease
Canopy Management
Lunch is provided and included in the registration price.
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https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4232639