International Cool Climate Symposium for Viticulture and Oenology

It's been an eventful month. I was visiting the USA for three out of the last four weeks. One of the reasons I went was to attend the Seventh International Cool Climate Symposium for Viticulture and Oenology, which was held in Seattle Washington. This was followed by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture's National Conference, also at the Washington State Convention Center.

It was a great one-two punch, with Lincoln University having a great presence through the four days, with a total of 10 abstracts, a mixture of talks and posters, representing research from LU's Centre for Viticulture and Oenology.

I made the most of the trip, presenting three posters and three talks, which reported on some of my masters students' research (on the use of crushed glass and mussel shells as reflective mulches (Olivia Ross, with a poster and a talk on those results) and also on soil type effects on Sauvignon blanc vine performance and fruit composition (a poster showing Melissa Sutherland work)) as well as some other projects I've done with students and colleagues (screening UV radiation from early season vine growth (a poster, with the project done with visiting French intern Cindy Bizet), rootstock effects on Chardonnay vine growth and fruit composition (a poster, with the research being that of myself, technician Gilbert Wells and students who have taken the HORT328 class at Lincoln Uni) and leaf area to crop load ratio effects on Pinot noir yield components and fruit composition (a talk, with most of the vineyard work done by student Michelle Pan, with Gilbert Wells helping out in the field work and with data analyses)).

Feedback was very good, and we also saw some great presentations, as well as having some stimulating conversations about all things viticultural (and beyond!). A most pleasurable way to spend a week, even though we were cooped up inside the Convention Centre instead of enjoying Seattle, the city!

I should mention that we stayed at the Inn at Virginia Mason (www.innatvirginiamason.com), which is a hotel attached to the Virginia Mason hospital. It's not the most modern of places, but it has real charm, and we did like its restaurant, The Rhododendron. It's also very convenient to the Convention Center, and the fabulous M Street Market (www.mstreetgrocery.com) is also only a couple of blocks away!

When I'm outside NZ, I usually look to see what NZ wines are available, so I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the M Street Market's selection:

Six wines, five of which were Sauvignon blancs and one Pinot noir. That's about the right ratio, I reckon!!

Prices ranged from USD10 for the Monkey Bay Savvie to USD17 for the Kim Crawford Savvie. The latter was even more expensive than the lone Pinot noir - Oyster Bay's, which was selling for USD16.

Also of note, all the Savvies save the Brancott Estate were 2009 vintage, with the Pernod Ricard wine being a 2008 year one. The Pinot noir was a 2008 as well.

These are reasonably expensive in comparison to a lot of California and European wines, but I'm pretty sure that what's inside the bottles would be worth it!!

Oh, and watch out for the 2010 vintage Savvies -they're set to be some really good drops!