Proceedings of the Symposium on Sustainability in Vineyards and Wineries

Abstract

At the 2009 Midwest Grape and Wine Conference, wine grape growers and industry experts from Missouri to Australia gathered to share information on issues of sustainability in winemaking during the conference's Symposium on Sustainability in Vineyards and Wineries. Growers discussed the increasing popularity of using sustainable practices in agriculture operations, how vineyards in the U.S. are currently approaching sustainability and how the "sustainably made" label affects consumers' wine-purchasing behavior. The symposium also discussed how sustainability is defined, the history of the use of sustainable methods in agriculture and how sustainable practices that make use of natural biology can influence the quality of growers' products. This publication, containing papers from several of the symposium presentations, provides relevant and broad information for current and potential commercial grape growers interested in learning more about sustainable growing practices and the increasing industry trends toward sustainability.