Europe’s largest wine technology conference comes to the U.S. in 2021
Edited by: Stacy Briscoe
Marco Cervellera, winemaker at Fattoria La Vialla in Italy, has been attending the Enoforum wine technology conference since its inception in 2000. Twenty years ago, the event hosted no more than 100 people. Today, Enoforum boasts a reputation as the largest technical and scientific conference for the wine trade in all of Europe. It brings together vendors and suppliers, scientific researchers, as well as winemakers, wine producers and wineries of all sizes. In 2021 Enoforum will come to the United States for the first time.
Fattoria La Vialla is a family-owned winery with vineyards in Lombardy, Marche and Sicily, all certified organic and biodynamic. “The style of the wines is strictly respectful of the terroir,” says Cervellera. “Therefore, the first rule is respect for the soil and its fertility.”
Cervellera has attended Enoforum both as a speaker and a spectator and says his main purpose for attending each year is the opportunity to discuss the latest scientific information with his colleagues in the wine industry.
“Being biodynamic and respectful of nature does not mean leaving anything to chance. It is necessary to have precise scientific knowledge to anticipate and avoid potentially harmful phenomena both in the vineyard and in the cellar,” Cervellera said. “On the contrary,” he added, ”you need to be more educated because, often, you cannot use chemical interventions (such as SO2).”
As in a traditional trade show, attendees can meet and engage with a large number of vendors and suppliers in one collaborative event. But Enoforum’s platform is much more than a day of seminars or an event hall full of representatives trying to attract the attention of potential customers. Instead, the goal is to illustrate to the wine industry audience the science behind these products and innovations.
“Simply put, it is a collaboration between suppliers, researchers and producers: we (the wine industry) cannot develop innovation without one of them,” said Gianni Trioli, creator of Enoforum and president of Vinidea.
Indeed, what makes the wine event unique is the collaboration between these three industry entities. Whether it is an educational seminar, a product demonstration or an experimental tasting by a winemaker, nothing is presented without the input of a scientific researcher and, in many cases, a hands-on practitioner (winemaker or cellar master) who can talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the product, technique or scientific discovery being discussed.
“Enoforum is great for companies that want to promote a novelty, a new technique or a new product, as it has many potential customers in the audience. But at the same time, they have to scientifically justify and detail their results, openly exposing themselves to potential criticism,” Cervellera said.
“This is also great for research institutions,” he continued. “They have the opportunity to present research and interact immediately with potential end-users of their studies, allowing them to expand or modify the research at later stages based on observations and practical implications reported by Enoforum participants.”
Jose Santos, president and CEO of Enartis attended Enoforum for several years in various international locations-Italy, Spain, Portugal-before moving to the United States in 2010. Now, as someone who regularly attends U.S.-based wine technology conferences, Santos argues that the current model of these U.S. trade shows is outdated. Most “technical” conferences in the United States do not take into account the input of industry suppliers. We are welcome as sponsors, but when we ask to speak, we are treated as if we were selling a miracle drug,” he said. “Before Enoforum, European events were like that, and the result was that most conferences disappeared.”
By recognizing the contribution of supplier companies such as Enartis to the continued development of the wine sector and allowing them to talk about their innovations from a scientific point of view, participants benefit from direct learning of the tools available to them. “Enoforum allows us to. contextualize the scientific aspect of a new tool, with immediate practical application. It allows, in a single event, to present the scientific, technical and practical aspects of the products we sell,” Santos explained.
The two-day conference, to be held May 5 and 6, 2021 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, will follow the same format as those hosted in the Union. Although the exact agenda is still being developed, past events have included up to 70 different exhibits to choose from.
“At Enoforum 2019 I devoured all the presentations,” Santos commented. “To the point that one of the days I skipped lunch because there were so many interesting presentations.”
Trioli, Cervellera and Santos emphasized that the form and format of Enoforum is very informal, “not restrictive.” There are no VIP tickets, and all attendees, regardless of wine production or company size, can participate in any experience that meets their specific interests. As Santos noted, “the wine industry is not just about high quality wines and wineries. On the contrary, higher volume wines, not so glamorous, are the engine of the industry.”
