A two day wine industry event on Monday 13 and Tuesday, 14 November at Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Wagga Wagga Campus will bring together researchers, winemakers and representatives of the peak wine research and funding bodies. Together, they will discuss the future of winemaking and winegrowing in New South Wales.

 

The NSW Wine Industry Planning Forum “will be a good opportunity for the broader wine industry in NSW to be aware of what is happening in research and collaborative links”, according to Professor Geoff Scollary, the Director of the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC). The Centre is an alliance between NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), CSU and the NSW Wine Industry Association.

 

Professor Scollary will present to the Forum on the NWGIC Winegrowing Futures Initiative, a $30 million dollar research collaboration between CSU and NSW DPI  with the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation (GWRDC).

 

Other speakers include Mr Tony Battaglene, the Director of International and Regulatory Affairs for the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia. Mr Battaglene will speak on Investing in innovation, while the Australian Wine Research Institute’s Managing Director, Professor Sakkie Pretorius, presentation is entitled Industry success through innovation.

 

Professor Scollary says the Forum will be broken into two parts. “The Monday is setting the research scene for the wine industry. The second day is where the Centre staff will present to the industry about our research. We will also seek feedback to make sure our research stays focused on what they see as the issues confronting them.”

 

The Forum will be held in the NSW DPI Industry Training Centre, adjacent to the Ron Potter Centre  the hub for the food and wine activities at CSU. The Centre also houses the CSU Winery, which was recently described as an “outstanding winery capable of producing wines of the highest calibre” in the 2007 James Halliday Wine Companion. James Halliday also gave the CSU 2005 Orange Chardonnay the highest possible rating.

 

As well, CSU’s Limited Release Pinot Noir Chardonnay NV Tumbarumba is one of just two sparkling wines named in the Top 40 Wines of NSW for 2006. The prestigious list of the top 40 wines from NSW each year is selected by the NSW Wine Industry Association, and forms the basis of the wine list in NSW Parliament House dining rooms in 2007.

 

“In the very near future they will be the only wines served at government functions,” said Professor Scollary.