Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973
Scene at 2013 CO & TR ADE NFERENCE S H OW 1 Midwest industry gathers for annual event in Missouri 2 he 2013 Midwest Grape & Wine Conference (MGWC), held Feb. 7-9 in St. Charles, Mo., drew nearly 1,600 attendees and trade show exhibitors, up from 1,000 in 2012. Since the 2011 conference, when Vineyard & Winery Management became a partner in organizing the event, the number of attendees has increased by more than 60%, and exhibitor numbers have grown by 30%. Dr. Keith Striegler of Flint Ridge Wine Growing Services in Arkansas, and Elizabeth Slater of In Short Direct Marketing in California, returned as moderators of the viticulture and marketing sessions, respectively, joined by enology session moderators Gary Finnan, 96 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | chief experience officer of GFC Group, and Jacob Holman, winemaker for Les Bourgeois Vineyards in Missouri. In addition to the sessions and trade show, MGWC featured two networking events, the Tour de Vin wine reception and Wine & Dine gala dinner. The gala featured keynote speaker Tim Hanni MW, author of the book "Why You Like the Wines You Like." Hanni told attendees that through the devaluation of sweet wines, which many people love, and the practice of food pairing, which matches dry wines with most foods, the global wine industry is holding back Americans' wine consumption. "Instead of telling May - June 2013 people what to drink with each course, what if we did wine dinners where we served all the wines (at once) and let people choose what wine was best for each course?" In keeping with Hanni's suggestion, the Wine & Dine dinner featured an assortment of sweet and dry wines from the Midwest that guests could sample with each dish. The 2014 MGWC is scheduled for Feb. 11-13 in St. Charles. In response to the large crossover market of wine, beer and spirits, the 2014 trade show will include beer and spirits industry exhibitors. For updates, see www.midwestgrape.com. w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m