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FEBRUARY 18 - 20, 2010 in Richardson, Texas

The 2010 Annual Conference is set to be hosted February 18, 19, and 20 at the Dallas Richardson Renaissance Hotel just north of Dallas when President-Elect Cliff Bingham will be installed as the president at the board meeting on February 17 and will preside as president at the annual members meeting on Thursday, February 18th! Congratulations to Cliff and thank you for your commitment of time!

The 34th Annual Conference kicks off on Thursday, February 18th with our welcome general session with a Legislative Update with Gabe Parker; TDA Grant Recipients and 2010 Grant Program; and 2010 Newsom Scholarship Winners Announcement. The program continues with break-out sessions geared for marketing, wine making and grape growing and include State and Federal Regulatory Sessions with TTB, TABC and TDA; New Marketing Techniques: Social Media Marketing with Denise Fraser, Dr. Russ Kane and Jeff Siegel;  Sensory Evaluation and Flaw Detection with Mike Sipowicz; and Frost Protection Techniques with Monte Nesbitt. NEW GENERAL SESSION: STRATEGY FOR THE 2010 INTERIM HEARING.

Our Annual Member Meeting and Awards luncheon on Thursday will feature Texas wine paired with a three course luncheon where the newly elected 2010-2011 Board of Directors will be sworn in for duty. The 2010 Texas Wine and Grape Growers Awards will be presented to the winners of each of our five awards. Be sure to send in your nominations for a deserving industry member.

We’ll finish up our program on Thursday with our regional meetings with wine reception. The Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association’s vineyard and winery regional directors will host a wine reception while leading a discussion on regional topics.

Friday, February 20 starts off with our general session breakfast entitled Winery Design with Gary McKibben, Johnson/McKibben Architects and Michael Zerbach, Michael Zerbach & Associates. Following breakfast, breakout sessions include A new tannin based on the theory of Ethyl aldheydes bridging with Marco Bertaccini, AEB Biochemicals; Weather and Climate Forecasting with Dr. John Nielson-Gammon, TAMU;  Generation Y Marketing with Rhonda Hammond, Texas Wine Marketing Research Institute at Texas Tech University; and Employment Law with David Evans, Attorney with Langley & Banack, Inc.

The Exhibit Hall will open on Friday at 11:00 am where exhibitors from around the country will be on hand to showcase their products to you. Exclusive show hours will be from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm, including a buffet luncheon in the exhibit hall and 3:30 pm until 5:30 pm, when we will host a Wine & Cheese Reception featuring Texas wine at the vendor booths!
The day will conclude with our off-site winery Dinner at Cross Timbers Winery. Come join us as we board our “Texas Star Shuttle”, a luxurious passenger bus where you will be served appetizers and Texas wine on your way to historic CrossTimbers Winery in Grapevine, Texas. Upon your arrival, you’ll be greeted by owner and winemaker, Don Bigbie, with an award-winning glass of CrossTimber’s wine and then treated to a wonderful Texas buffet in their beautifully restored barn. Cross Timbers Winery is located in the Historic Brock Family farm house, built in 1874 and is recognized as being one of the 5 oldest structures in Grapevine, and has been renovated to capture the original design and spirit of its original builders.

On Saturday, February 20th the day begins with a general session breakfast with keynote speaker Dr. Robert Smith on Climate Forecasting.  Following the breakfast, we’ll have a full day of break-out sessions that include: Root Stock & Varietal Selection, Dr. Andy Walker, UC Davis; 3 Tier System and When You Should Contact a Distributor , a panel discussion with Mark Hyman, president of Llano Estacado Wines; and Guy Stout, M.S., Education Director for Glazer’s Distributors; and special sessions by Craig Root entitled Customer Service, Sales, and Winery Best Practices and The Secrets of Wine Club Success.

If you missed the exhibit hall on Friday, you'll still have the opportunity to visit all the exhibitors from 9:30 am until 11:30 am. We will also draw the exhibitor’s door prizes at this time. 

Saturday’s luncheon will feature a three-course Texas wine paired meal with Keynote speaker John Gillespie, President of the Wine Market Council.

To wrap up the 34th Annual Conference, we’ll host our Annual Vintner's Gala Dinner and Auction beginning with a wine reception, featuring wine from all 5 regions of the state. Dinner will include a five-course Texas wine paired menu and live auction that is always a crowd pleaser. The Russ Dorsey Band and special musical guests, The Bingham Family Orchestra will keep us dancing the night away! 

Wineries - Want to showcase your wine at the conference? Click here for the call for wines for the 2010 Annual Conference.