(Wines&Vines) - The Napa Valley Grapegrowers held their seventh Ahead of the Curve seminar last week, envisioning what the Napa Valley might be like in 2030.While 125 attendees were expected, the actual turnout exceeded 170, and the meeting had to be moved into a larger room at Silverado Resort in Napa.

Jon Ruel, the elected president of the Grapegrowers and chief operating officer of Trefethen Family Vineyards, provided an overview of what faces the audience of growers gathered at a critical time for most.

The vines they planted in the early 1990s in response to the phylloxera epidemic that attacked their previous AXR-1 rootstocks are nearing the end of their economic lives. Many growers have already started replanting and others plan on it.