The sixth annual WiVi Central Coast, considered by some to be the Central Coast’s version of the Sacramento-based Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, will return to the Paso Robles Event Center on March 21.
WiVi Central Coast is the only wine industry symposium and trade show to focus solely on the Central Coast, home to at least 500 winemakers scattered throughout Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
Wine Business Monthly, the wine industry’s largest trade publication, once again is the lead presenter of WiVi Central Coast, with partnership from the advocacy organization Rhone Rangers.
More than a dozen of the region’s top vineyard and wine authorities will offer a range of topics, among them winery trials, vineyard mechanization, red and white wine blends from the Central Coast, regulated deficit irrigation and direct to consumer sales.
Click here for the day’s full schedule of events.
Leslie Sbrocco, award-winning author and television host, will open WiVi’s general session, along with Robert Trone, co-founder and CEO of Total Wine & More, the largest independent retailer of fine wine in the United States. Sbrocco and Trone will lead discussions on Central Coast wines.
Also featured during the general session will be brewers and brothers-in-law Adam Firestone and David Walker, both of Firestone Walker Brewing Co. They will share the tale of how their beer label grew to fame alongside the Central Coast’s booming wine industry.
Lance Cutler, author and contributor to Wine Business Monthly, will present a detailed look at both red and white Rhone blends produced on the Central Coast. He will lead a discussion on style goals, methods and more with three winemakers: Carl Bowker of Caliza, Claire Silver of Tobin James Cellars and Joe Barton of Grey Wolf Cellars.
Featured will be wine blends from Adelaida Cellars, Bonny Doon Vineyard, Caliza Winery, Epoch Estate Wines, Foxen Winery, Grey Wolf Cellars, Kukkula Winery, Lone Madrone Winery and Tobin James Cellars.
More than 175 suppliers — among them Criveller California, The Vintner’s Vault, G3 Enterprises and Paso Robles Tank — will showcase new tools, technology and services.
WiVi Central Coast was founded in 2012 through a partnership between Wine Business Monthly and Precision Ag, an agricultural consulting company specializing in vineyard management, viticulture production consulting, soil fertility and irrigation management.
In November 2015, Wine Business Monthly purchased WiVi from Precision Ag, but organizers said the annual conference remains a product of the two companies.
— Laurie Jervis blogs about wine at www.centralcoastwinepress.com, tweets at @lauriejervis and can be reached via winecountrywriter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are her own.