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MWGW/WU PREVIEW MWGW/WU PREVIEW GW/W WU VI VIE Midwest Grape & Wine + Craft Brew Conference and Trade Show When: Feb. 4-7, 2014 Where: St. Charles Convention Center, St. Charles, Mo. To Register: Visit www.midwestgrape.com This year, the show has added an educational feature designed to give attendees a more in-depth look at products on the trade show floor. On Wednesday and Thursday, attendees are invited to take part in demonstrations that explore featured products from exhibitors. Additionally, the event offers the following lineup of workshops, seminars, and social and networking events: Tuesday, Feb. 4 Tour de Vin Regional Wine Tasting and Welcome Reception 5:30 – 7 p.m. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Tuesday, Feb. 4, & Wednesday, Feb. 5 Professional Wine Fundamentals Seminar with the International Wine Guild During this day-and-a-half seminar, participants will taste at least 28 wines from three continents, explore the technical issues of wine and food pairings, and learn about Old World, New World and fortified wines. For more information, visit www.internationalwineguild.com. VESTA Sensory Evaluation Workshop In this day-and-a-half session, led by the Viticulture Enology Science and Technology Alliance (VESTA), participants will have the opportunity to explore wine tasting methodology, wine sensory components, and wine faults and flaws. In addition, workshop attendees will be guided through sensory test methods to assess perceived differences and preferences in wine. Day One with VESTA will focus on an introduction to tasting; white and red sensory standards; evaluating palate attributes; and descriptive analyses of wine. Day Two will offer a laboratory investigation of wine competition methodology and professional wine rating systems. Thursday, Feb. 6 Brewing Session: Cleaning and Sanitation Workshop 10 a.m. – noon Friday, Feb. 7 Finance and Accounting for the Wine Industry 8 a.m. – noon This two-part workshop, presented by Sonoma State's Wine Business Institute, includes a session entitled "Using QuickBooks in the Wine Industry." This four-hour seminar will be led by Jeanette Tan, accountant for Kokomo Winery and Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She will review the most common processes built into QuickBooks to manage the day-to-day decisions of running a wine business. Calculating the True Cost of Your Wine 1 – 5 p.m. Sonoma State's Wine Business Institute will present this workshop, which will explore the reason that most small businesses, especially wineries, fail: because they do not know their true cost of goods. This class will demystify the most complex aspect of winery accounting, enabling management teams to build sustainable and profitable businesses. Beverage-To-Consumer 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Beverage-To-Consumer, a two-part workshop presented by Ovation Guild, will focus on the essentials of creating and maintaining a successful and sustainable business. To delve deeper into the broad and fine points of the Beverage-To-Consumer business, join V&WM columnist and wine marketing guru Elizabeth Slater and wine marketing professional Gary Finnan for a full day of knowledge, information and innovation about accessing the right customers for your business. Brewing Session: Cleaning and Sanitation Workshop 8:30 a.m. – noon Morning Ovation Session 8:30 a.m. – noon In the morning session, Ovation Guild will focus on strategic business and brand planning, organizational design and development, product development, elements of the business market, customer and channel insights, brand and product launch strategies, and sales channel strategy and management. Brewing Half-Day Session: Home Brew to Brewery 2 – 5 p.m. Steve Parkes, owner and lead instructor of American Brewers Guild, will talk about general brewing practices, from raw materials to the bottle. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. Afternoon Ovation Session 1 – 4:30 p.m. This segment will examine customer experience mapping, retail hospitality and environment design, resource selection and management implementation, customer relationship management, and sales techniques and tactics. Wednesday, Feb. 5 Tour de Brew Beer Reception 5:30 – 7 p.m. Beer and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Please note that some conference sessions were still being finalized at press time. For complete program details and schedules, see www.midwestgrape.com and www.wineriesunlimited.com. w w w. v w m m e d i a.com J a n - Feb 2014 | V INE YA RD & W INE RY M A NAG EM EN T 109