Verde Valley News – Up-and-coming winemakers will be celebrated on Saturday, April 23, 2022 when the Emerging Winemakers Competition & Symposium returns for its fourth year at Yavapai College’s Verde Valley campus in Clarkdale, Arizona. The event will run from 9:30 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. MST (PDT) and will be held both in person at the College as well as streamed live online.
Organized by the Grand Crew, a Yavapai College Viticulture and Enology student/alumni organization, the event will feature educational seminars during the Symposium, an awards ceremony and a roundtable discussion with the competition’s seven judges.
“We’re looking forward to being both in-person and online this year to celebrate our state’s emerging winemakers,” said the Competition Organizer Bill Anderson. “This is a great opportunity to learn from industry leaders and winemakers.”
An “emerging” winemaker is anyone at least twenty-one (21) years of age whose wine is not available commercially. Wine submissions are being accepted for the competition until March 31, 2022. For entry forms and submission details, visit www.emergingwinemakers.com.
The Symposium agenda is:
9:30 — 10 a.m.: Check-in
10 – 10:15 a.m.: Introductions + Tribute to Mitch Levy
10:15 – 11 a.m.: Keynote Speaker: James Callahan of Rune Wines
Title: “Controlled Chaos: Wild Yeast in Winemaking”
11 – 11:15 a.m.: Break
11:15 – 12 p.m.: Speaker II: Michael Stump of Lafitte Cork & Capsule
Title: “Cork Technologies”
12 – 12:45 p.m.: Lunch
12:45 – 1:30 p.m.: Speaker III: Randy Caparoso, Editor-at-Large, The SOMM Journal
Title: “”Redefining the Definition of Balance”
1:30 – 1:45 p.m.: Break
1:45 – 2:15 p.m.: Awards Ceremony
2:15 – 3 p.m.: Roundtable Discussions
3:00 – 3:15 p.m.: Farewell + Announcement of next year’s event
Tickets for the Symposium costs $35 per person for either online or in-person attendance and is open to the public. Those attending in-person will receive lunch and a glass of wine from the Southwest Wine Center, the teaching winery of Yavapai College. For tickets and more information on the event, the full rules of the wine competition and entry forms, visit www.emergingwinemakers.com.