Emerging Winemakers Competition and Symposium
Seminars & Speakers
Since 2018, the Emerging Winemakers Competition and Symposium has presented some amazing and very informative speakers and seminars. Seminars that have ranged in topics from good sanitation cellar practice, traditional and non-traditional wine styles, choosing the right root-stock for your soil and climate, yeast choice; and how or how not to launch a wine brand.

The 2021 Emerging Winemakers Competition and Symposium will be held virtually due to the Pandemic. Virtual seminars will be presented on Saturday April 24, 2021 followed by a Wine Competition Awards Ceremony and Roundtable Discussion.
2021 Virtual Symposium Seminar Topics

Jennifer Montgomery –
(Executive Director of AWGA)
Keynote Speaker: Different Beginnings, Same Destination.
Jennifer is the former Governmental & Grassroots Advocacy Manager ASET – The Neurodiagnostic Society. A native of Blacksburg, Virginia, Jennifer earned her B.A. in Journalism from Radford University. Jennifer became the Executive Director, Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners, after serving for two years as the first full-time Director for the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association.

Lisa Francioni-Hai –
(California Sustainable Winegrowers Alliance)
Seminar A: Sustainability- Grape to Glass
Lisa Francioni-Hai is Program Director for the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, a non-profit organization incorporated in 2003 by Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers to promote environmental stewardship and social responsibility in the state’s wine community. She has been integral in implementing the California Sustainable Winegrowing Program, a voluntary educational program for California wineries and vineyards, since February 2005 and oversees the third-party certification program, Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing. Lisa has served as the project manager on numerous federal and state grant projects, and has assisted with the implementation of over a dozen grant projects during her fifteen years with CSWA. Her role at CSWA also includes overseeing project budgets, completing financial reports, managing consultants, and evaluating and reporting progress of projects to funding organizations. She helps to build partnerships and collaborations with winegrowers, wineries, winegrower associations, and agricultural professionals. She leads the development of educational workshops and events and works closely with expert partners to develop tools and educational resources, including an online self-assessment and reporting system.

Philippe Coderey –
(Biodynamic Viticulture)
Seminar B: Biodynamic Viticulture
Philippe comes from a very long line of Vignerons in Europe, Philippe has been inclined to research and study many ancient forms of viticulture. During the course of his career, it has become obvious that biodynamic farming has been and is inspired by those empirical practices and farming principles coming from the past. Being aware of the difficulty to understand biodynamic farming, it has become a necessity for Philippe to demystify it but also explain it through those long–forgotten principles and practices acquired throughout centuries of farming. Merging the past and the present is the key to unlock the true potential and uniqueness of a land under a particular climate and planted with a given grape varietal and to express this potential in a glass of wine.
Our third annual 2020 Competition and Symposium was cancelled in light of the ongoing spread of COVID-19 throughout the nation

Keynote: Different Beginnings, Same Destination
Jennifer Montgomery, Executive Director of the Arizona Wine Growers Association

Sustainability from Grapes to Glass
by Lisa Francioni-Hai
California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance

Sustainable Best Practices – Practical Applications in Viticulture + Enology
Eric Glomski
Page Spring Cellars

Fining and Filtration
Maria Peterson
Scott Laboratories

Wine Flaws & Faults –
How to Prevent them in the Bottle
–
Wine Microbiology Overview –
From Crush to Bottle
Dr. Richard DeScenzo
ETS Laboratories

Biodynamic Viticulture
by Philippe Coderey
2019 Symposium Seminar Speakers and Topics
Keynote Speaker
Eric Glomski
Page Spring Cellars
Volatile Acidity:
Friend or Foe?
by Scott Laboratories
Is Your Wine Ready
for Prime Time?
by Andrew Stover
Volatile Acidity:
Friend or Foe?
by ETS Laboratories
Beyond the Traditional
to the Non-Traditional
by Jennifer Montgomery
2018 Symposium Seminar Speakers and Topics
Keynote Speaker
Tom Messier
Emerging Winemaker
Yavapai College Student
Wine Yeast Selections
by Susie Selby
Wine Faults & Flaws
by Matt Raica
Grapevine: Varietals
& Rootstocks
by Emil Molin
Post Emergent
Winemakers
by Bree Nation
Have a Question,
want to be a sponsor
or get involved?
If you have any questions about the Virtual Symposium, sponsorship or volunteering, please contact us.
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