(Wines&Vines) - While many in the wine industry are still trying to educate consumers about what it means for a winery or vineyard to be sustainable, experts gathered during the opening day of the SIMEI conference in Milan to pinpoint the sensory characteristics of sustainable wines and winemaking.

Organized by the group Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), which is comprised of wineries, vineyards and winemaking equipment suppliers, SIMEI is held every two years in a sprawling exposition center outside of the city of Milan. Thousands of attendees are drawn to the event, which includes a trade show featuring hundreds of suppliers that set up booths in four huge exhibition halls. The giant show also includes brewing and olive oil production, but SIMEI’s winemaking and viticulture area alone is easily two or three times the size of any similar show in North America. 

During the most recent SIMEI conference in 2013, the “International Congress” discussed how to best balance the environmental, social and economic pillars of sustainability as well as “harmonize” the various public and private efforts seeking to incorporate the strategy into winemaking. That conference resulted in this policy paper.

This year, the goal of the conference is to further define sustainability as well as the sensory characteristics of a sustainable wine. As Domenico Zonin, president of the UIV, said in a speech to open the conference, the topic of sustainability is often discussed without taking into account the need to ensure wine quality as well as produce something that consumers will purchase and enjoy.

A general discussion about sustainability in wine production took place today, and the second half of the conference (which focuses on the sensory aspects) will take place on Wednesday.

Extension specialist Anita Oberholster from the University of California, Davis, was a co-chair of the committee developing the conference along with Ulrich Fischer from the Center for Wine Research DLR Rheinpfalz.