MEDIA ADVISORY: National Grape/Wine Conference July 20-22 in Painesville

WOOSTER, Ohio - National winemaking and grape-growing experts will meet in Ohio July 20-22, as Ohio State University hosts the 34th annual conference of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture-Eastern Section (ASEV-ES), to be held at Quail Hollow Resort, 11080 Concord-Hambden Rd., Painesville.

Reporters are invited to cover the event, which will highlight the latest research related to this robust industry and the significant advances made by vineyards and wineries east of the Rockies - where grape and wine production has substantially increased in the past few years, successfully competing with traditional West Coast wine regions at national quality shows.

Thanks to support from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and OSU Extension, the Buckeye state has become one of the top wine producers in the country, boasting 2,500 acres of grapes, annual production of nearly 1 million gallons, and more than 120 wineries - growing from only 37 in the mid-1990s. The Ohio grape and wine industry now has an economic impact of more than $400 million a year.

Conference schedule is available at http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/fst/asev/pdf/2009-ASEVES-Conference-Program.pdf. For more information, contact Mauricio Espinoza at 330-621-6541 or espinoza.15@osu.edu.

OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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