Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Erica Duecy
Founder, Business of Drinks, USA
Erica Duecy is founder of Business of Drinks, a podcast and data + marketing consultancy, and one of the drinks industry’s most accomplished digital and content strategists. She has built data insights, marketing, and publishing programs for Drizly, Union, and other hospitality and drinks tech companies. Previously, she served as Chief Content Officer for the wine-discovery platform Pix and the wine/spirits publication VinePair, and as Editor in Chief of SevenFifty Daily. She also has led digital editorial teams at Architectural Digest, Saveur, and Fodor’s Travel. Her content, podcast, and video programs have won more than 40 digital and editorial awards.
Juha Karvonen, Ph.D.
Finland
Juha Karvonen has worked as a medical doctor for 40 years. After retiring, he has obtained MSc in agricultural and forestry from the University of Helsinki and a PhD un Viticulture from Madrid University.
All Speakers
Arūnas Starkus, Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief of Vyno žurnalas, Lithuania
Chairman of the jury of Lithuanian Wine Championship by LSA, organizer of Lithuanian wine exhibition Vyno Dienos and Wine+Dessert Pairing Contest, co-owner of fine wine distributor Vyno Klubas, founder and former president of Lithuanian Sommelier Association.
Benjamin Bois
Climate change consultant in the wine industry, France
Benjamin Bois has been an assistant/associate professor (“maître de conférences”) at the University Bourgogne Europe in Dijon, France, from 2007 to 2023, where he taught viticulture, terroir, and climatology at the University Institute of Vine and Wine (IUVV – Institut “Jules Guyot”). His research, conducted within the Climate Research Center (Biogeosciences lab, University Bourgogne Europe), has been focusing on the relationships between terroir, climate, and viticulture. He particularly concentrated on analyzing climate features at various spatial scales, ranging from local temperature and rainfall variability to the climate characteristics of wine-growing regions worldwide. Starting in November 2023, Benjamin Bois took a leave of absence from his university position to dedicate himself to helping businesses in the wine industry adapt to climate conditions (including local climate diversity and climate change-related challenges). Benjamin Bois served as the president of the Viticulture Commission of the International Organization of Vine and Wine from 2015 to 2018.
Clotide Aschero
Terra Mea, France
Agricultural engineer and oenologist, Clotilde joined Terra Mea in 2021.
She supports winegrowers in the vineyard and winery throughout the year in achieving their production objectives and in their various projects (varieties selection, fertilization, pruning techniques, , management of cover crops, determination of harvest dates, tasting, etc.).
She is also in charge of the company’s R&D missions which cover various issues such as: the links between physicochemical parameters, soil microorganisms and the vine; the impacts of cultivation practices on soil microorganisms or the effects of different rootstocks on the assimilation of nutrients by the vine.
Dzintra Dēķena, Ph.D.
Institute Horticulture, Latvia
Responsible for the preservation of the grape genetic resource collection, evaluation of varieties and hybrids.
Jochen Vestner, Ph.D.
WeinCampus Neustadt, Germany
Jochen Vestner was born and raised in a family winery in the Nahe winegrowing region of Germany. After completing an apprenticeship as a chemical lab assistant, he studied Viticulture and Beverage Technology at Hochschule Geisenheim University. He then earned a Master of Science in Chemistry from Stellenbosch University, South Africa, followed by a PhD in Oenology from the Université de Bordeaux, France. In 2017, he began his research and teaching at the Institute for Viticulture and Oenology, DLR Rheinpfalz Weincampus, in Neustadt, Germany. Since 2021, he has been the head of the Institute’s Aroma Research Group. His primary research focuses on oenological and wine chemical aspects of wine quality.
Justin Howard-Sneyd MW
United Kingdom
International wine consultant, Master of Wine, regenerative viticulture advocate, entrepreneur and wine communicator, as well as owner of tiny Roussillon estate Domaine of the Bee Justin consults to a number of businesses around the world, mostly on buying and commercial performance. He acts as Wine Consultant to the Masala World Group whose restaurants include Chutney Mary, Veeraswamy and Amaya. He is also a Trustee of the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation.
Karine Pedneault, Ph.D.
Associate professor, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada
Prof. Pedneault holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry, a Master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology (U. Laval). Over the past 15 years, she has specialized in viticulture and oenology in California, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Her research, primarily conducted in Quebec and Nova Scotia, focuses on the impact of abiotic stresses on berry biochemistry, particularly on aroma compounds and other molecules of oenological importance, and more broadly, on the relationships between the vine and its fruit with the terroir. She also studies the relationships between grape quality and wine quality. Her approach focuses on controlled conditions and field experiments and targeted and untargeted metabolomics. Prof. Pedneault is the author of over 150 publications and conferences, mainly on grapevines, but also on cider, hops and other crops.
Lavena Van Cranenbroeck, Ph.D. student
Integrated and Urban Phytopathology Laboratory, Liège University, Belgium
Lavena Van Cranenbroeck is a belgian researcher specializing in plant pathology and grapevine virology. She holds a Master’s degree in bioengineering with a focus on agronomy from Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, where she developed a deep interest in plant pathology, crop production, and plant defense mechanisms. Since November 2023, she has been pursuing her doctoral research, under Prof. Sebastien Massart’s supervision, on grapevine viruses, focusing on the project “Epidemiological study of grapevine viruses and viroids in support of viticulture expansion in Belgium through the application of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies combined with stakeholder consultation.” This research, in collaboration with the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), is part of the VITIBEL project, which aims to identify harmful viruses and bacteria in Belgian vineyards.
Mariana Maante-Kuljus, Ph.D.
Chair of Horticulture, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia
Dr. Mariana Maante-Kuljus is specialized in viticulture and oenology in cool-climate regions. Her research focuses on the physiological and biochemical aspects of grapevine cultivation, with a particular emphasis on hybrid cultivars adapted to the Baltic region. She is also actively involved in developing innovative cultivation methods, including the use of high tunnels to enhance grape quality under challenging climatic conditions.
Dr. Maante-Kuljus has published extensively on the impact of weather variability and agricultural practices on grapevine phenology, fruit composition, and wine quality. Her doctoral work at the Estonian University of Life Sciences examined maturity parameters and yield optimization for grapevines, contributing valuable insights to the field. Her ongoing research supports the growing interest in sustainable viticulture and the production of wines in Northern Europe, offering practical solutions for emerging wine regions.
Oliver Trapp, Ph.D.
Julius Kuhn Institute, Institute for Grapevine Breeding / Head of the Institute, Germany
Prof. Dr. Oliver Trapp is the Head of the Institute for Grapevine Breeding at the Julius Kuehn Institute (JKI), the Federal Research Center for Cultivated Plants in Germany. He studied biology with a focus on molecular biology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and received his PhD in 2013 in the group of Prof. Holger Puchta. From 2016 to 2025, he worked as grapevine breeder at the Institute for Grapevine Breeding at the JKI and served between 2021 and 2024 as Deputy Head of the Institute before taking over the duties as Head of the Institute for Grapevine Breeding and a Professorship for Resistance Breeding in Grapevines at the Geisenheim University in September 2024. His work is focused on breeding new grapevine varieties adapted to climate change with high levels of resistance against grapevine pathogens and high wine quality, as well as research into resilience against abiotic and biotic stress factors, high-throughput phenotyping and the conservation of grapevine genetic resources.
Paulius Kovas
Sommelier, Lithuania
Paulius Kovas made his first home wine 30 years ago and since then it became one of his hobbies. Now he grows a small vineyard where Solaris is the dominant variety. Continues experimenting in wine production. Some of his wines have received medals in Lithuanian wine competition. Became a sommelier and host of winetasting events. No matter what country he travels to, he will definitely find an interesting winery to visit and gain experience.
Philipp Klumpp
Winemaker, Kloss Winery, Winningen, Mosel, Germany
From 2015 to 2017, Philipp worked did apprenticeship as a Winemaker at H.J. Kreuzberg Winery, Dernau, Ahr, Germany and Winzergenossenschaft Mayschoß / Altenahr, Ahr, Germany. Than he studied viticulture and oenology at Hochschule Geisenheim University. During this period, he worked in different wineries in Germany and Israel. He completed master studies in Viticulture, Oenology, and Wine Business at Hochschule Geisenheim University / University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna in 2023. Since, Philipp is Responsible for sparkling wine production at Kloss Winery, Winningen, Mosel, Germany.
Randall Vos, Ph.D.
Commercial Fruit Crops Field Specialist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, USA
Randall offers technical support to commercial fruit growers across the state. He is also involved in applied research, focusing on practical vineyard management and the impact of viticulture practices on wine quality. Before joining Extension, Randall taught production horticulture courses and coordinated the Mid-American Wine Competition.
Ričards Ivanovs
Chairman, board of the Latvian Grape Growers and Winemakers Association, Latvia
Ričards Ivanovs has been making wine and growing grapes for over thirty years and owns a vineyard in Northern Latvia, where he grows and tests grape varieties selected in Latvia. Owner of a wine-making accessories trading company. Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Society of Winegrowers and Winemakers. The work of the Society is related to the development of winemaking and viticulture in Latvia, which has resulted in a rapid increase in the area under vines and the volume of commercial wine over the last ten years.
Torben Toldam-Andersen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in Fruit Science at Copenhagen University, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Denmark
Torben Bo Toldam-Andersen (TBTA) obtained the PhD degree in Pomology and Plant Physiology in 1995 at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen. After a postdoc period in Germany TBTA returned to Copenhagen and became associate prof. in 1997. Initially the research focus was on flower and fruit development in berries of black currants and cherries but after Denmark became accepted as a wine producing country in 2000, grape research was initiated. TBTA has since 2006 been responsible for a course in Cool Climate Viticulture and Enology at Copenhagen University. He has written more than 100 papers on viticulture and winemaking in the Nordic Journal ‘Vinpressen’ as well as international scientific journals. In 2020 a breeding and selection project was initiated in cooperation with the breeders at the Julius Kühn Institute in Germany resulting in the establishment of the company ‘FastGrapes’ in 2021. Since then more than 50 genotypes has been selected and is now planted in test fields in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Northern Germany, Latvia and Belgium. The focus in FastGrapes is on robust high quality cultivars with a fast fruit development making them suitable for growing in Northern Europe/Scandinavia. The cultivar Solaris is used as the reference.
Vita Petek, Ph.D.
Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Dr. Vita Petek is an assistant professor and researcher at the University of Maribor. She obtained her doctorate in the field of agrarian economics and at the same time she completed her law studies. Her areas of research are wine, gastronomy, wine tourism and wine etiquette, on which she publishes scientific and professional articles, participates in domestic and international projects and lectures at foreign universities. In the field of wine, she has additional education and is a level 1 sommelier and has WSET 2 certificate. In her spare time, she travels around the world, research wine destinations, reads wine labels and attends wine festivals.
