2026 Conference Program
2026 Workshops & Conference
Workshops will take place on Tuesday, March 24 and provide a full day exploration of a single topic. You can choose one of the full workshops or cherry-pick just the sessions you want from each. Lunch included.
A General Session on Tuesday will kick off the Workshop program at 10:30 am. Wine industry analyst Andrew Adams will present The Direct Path to Better Sales. This session is open to all Workshop attendees.
EWE Conference sessions take place March 25-26 and will feature sessions throughout both days on Enology, Marketing and Viticulture.
The License to Steal® Wine Marketing Conference will present the full Marketing track March 25-26 as part of the EWE Conference. That means your EWE Conference pass will also give you access to LTS Marketing sessions. Separate EWE & LTS registration is not required.
WORKSHOPS | TUESDAY, MARCH 24
Workshop General Session
WGS | The Direct Path to Better Sales
Workshop 1: Winery Lab Workshop
W01a | Building a Practical Quality Control Plan for Winery Labs
W01b | Measuring Free SO₂; Why It’s Important (and Can Be Problematic)
W01c | Everything You Need to Know About pH, and Getting the Most from Your pH Meter
W01d | Protocols for Measuring Heat Stability, and Doing a Bentonite Fining Trial
Workshop 2: New Hybrids and Vineyard Technology
W02a | Fungal-Resistant “PiWi” Hybrids
W02b | UC Davis PD-Resistant Hybrids
W02c | New Hybrids for a Southern Climate
W02d | New Technology: Aerial Drone Sprayer Trial
CONFERENCE | MARCH 25-26
ENOLOGY
E01 | Postmodern Winemaking, Part 1
E02 | Postmodern Winemaking, Part 2: Winemaker Discussion
E03 | Smart Strategies for SO₂ Use from Crush to Bottle
E04 | 2026 Virginia “Governor’s Case” Tasting: White Wines
E05 | 2026 Virginia “Governor’s Case” Tasting: Red Wines
E06 | New Technology for Improving Flavors in Lower-Ripened Grapes
E07 | The Chemical & Sensory Life of Red Wine Mouthfeel Components
E08 | Making Stellar Hybrid Wines
E09 | Acid Adjustment & Management Techniques
E10 | Mouthfeel Tools for Low/No Alcohol Wines
VITICULTURE
V01 | Regenerative Viticulture #1: What It Is and Why We Practice It
V02 | Regenerative Viticulture #2: Putting It into Practice
V03 | Research Results on Biopesticide Use for Downy Mildew
V04 | Factors that Lead to Vineyard Longevity, or Shorten It
V05 | Vine Training with Tomorrow in Mind
V06 | Vineyard Mechanization Update
V07 | Growing Hybrids for Fine Wine
V08 | Optimizing Your Crop Load In a Soft Market
V09 | Pierce’s Disease Control Technologies for Eastern X.fastidiosa Strains
V10 | Spray Adjuvants & Their Strategic Uses
MARKETING FROM LICENSE TO STEAL®
LTS program & speakers to be announced in late October.
Conference Manager
Richard Leahy has organized major wine industry conference programs from Pennsylvania to Minnesota since 1997, and has been writing about wines of Virginia and the East since 1986. He started the Eastern Winery Exposition in 2012 with Operations Director Marcia Gulino and former owner Bob Mignarri. In 2007 he organized the Virginia Wine Experience in London which brought the top 64 Virginia wines there for leading British wine media and trade to taste. He was a regional editor for Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide, and was Mid-Atlantic and Southern Editor for the Oxford Companion to the Wines of North America. He was East Coast Editor of Vineyard & Winery Management for over ten years. He is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Richard’s book on Virginia wine, Beyond Jefferson’s Vines, now in a third edition, was first published in 2012 by Sterling Publishing. In 2022, he was given the Birchenall Award by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association for his promotion of the Eastern wine industry over the years. He also has a website and blog focused on wines of the East at www.richardleahy.com.
Program Advisory Board
Thank you to the EWE Program Advisory Board for their input, ideas, feedback, and suggestions that continue to make the EWE Conference stronger every year.
- Peter Bell, Fox Run Vineyards, New York
- Tim Benedict, Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards, New York
- Dr. Joseph A. Fiola, University of Maryland
- Jerry Forest, Buckingham Valley Vineyards, Pennsylvania
- Patty Held, Patty Held Consulting, Missouri
- Dr. Molly Kelly, Penn State University, Pennsylvania
- Erin Kirschenmann, Wine Business Monthly, California
- Lucie Morton, Lucie Morton Consulting, Virginia
- Tom Payette, Tom Payette Wine Consulting, Virginia
- Joy Ting, Virginia Winemakers Research Exchange