8:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Preventing Pesticide Resistance in Vineyards: Essentials of Antimicrobial & Fungicide Stewardship

Preparing for Early Season Abiotic Stress in Midwest Vineyards

Session Coming Soon

Fermenting Opportunity: Hard Cider Production & Its Place in the Modern Wine Industry

11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Elevating Iowa Wineries: Leveraging Statewide Tourism Marketing & Travel Trends

Learn how the Iowa Tourism Office promotes Iowa winery experiences through digital campaigns, Travel Guide content, event amplification, and the Iowa Wine Passport program. This session will share how wineries can better leverage these statewide marketing efforts and tap into key travel trends like sustainability, wellness, and experiential tourism to attract more visitors.

9:45 A.M. - 10:45 A.M.

1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

WELCOME & GENERAL SESSION

8:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Every guest interaction is an opportunity.

This session introduces three essential behaviors that drive results: confidently asking for the sale, inviting guests to join your wine club, and capturing contact information so you can stay connected after they leave.

Participants will learn:

How to create comfortable, natural sales conversations

Why teams often hesitate to ask, and how to change that

Simple ways to grow club membership

Why collecting guest information matters more than ever

You’ll leave with clear, actionable steps to strengthen conversion and build long-term relationships.

Cold Hardiness: It Takes More Than A Cold Hardy Cultivar

Midwest winters can be harsh, even brutal and certainly damaging to grapevines. With ambient temperatures that can plummet to the -10 to -25 (degrees F) range for anywhere from one night to a week; volatile temperatures which result in 60 degree F temperatures in January and February, and late frosts (even late into May), extensive damage to early budding grapevines can and will occur. It has been well documented that the application of a vegetable based surfactant (Amigo Oil)to dormant grapevines, will in fact delay bud break anywhere from several days to almost three weeks depending upon the winter and the specific cultivar (Dami; McFarland & McFarland, 2007-2012). This amount of delay can mean the difference between a bountiful harvest and catastrophic loss due to early spring warm-up and late spring freezing episodes.

Assessing the Vineyard

In this session, weather permitting, we will explore the host site at Oscar Carl Vineyard. We will evaluate vine balance, examine different pruning responses, and discuss insights gained from our 2025 tissue sampling.

Exploring Lower-Alcohol Wines: A Guided Tasting and Discussion

Join this interactive session and explore lower-alcohol wines made from cold-hardy grapes to learn how different approaches influence balance, flavor, and structure. Sample wines, ask questions, and discuss practical, permitted techniques for adjusting alcohol levels cost-effectively, without fully removing alcohol. Walk away with practical tips you can apply in your own winery.

Sulfur Dioxide and Its Alternatives: Research Insights

Sulfur dioxide is widely used throughout the winemaking process to protect wines from oxidation and microbial spoilage. However, at high concentrations, it can cause adverse reactions in some consumers. We developed a research project to evaluate the effects of alternative products, such as enological tannins and chitosan, on wine quality throughout the winemaking process. This session will focus on sulfur dioxide management and will present data on the use of these alternative products in ‘La Crescent’ and ‘Frontenac’ wines. The session will include a wine tasting.

Managing Your Time to Grow Your Business

Revenue growth does not happen by accident. It requires focus.

In this session, we shift from guest interaction to leadership discipline. Winery owners and managers will learn how to prioritize the activities that truly drive sales and retention, rather than getting buried in daily distractions.

We will explore:

Identifying your highest-impact tasks

Creating simple weekly rhythms for follow-up and planning

Delegating effectively within small teams

Protecting time for revenue-generating activities

Participants will leave with a practical framework for leading with intention instead of reacting to urgency.

Building a Wine Club That Works Year-Round

A strong wine club provides stability, predictable revenue, and deeper customer loyalty.

In this final session, we connect hospitality to long-term growth by focusing on wine club best practices. From how you introduce the club in the tasting room to how you reduce cancellations, we will cover realistic strategies tailored to smaller winery operations.

Topics include:

Talking about membership in a natural, guest-centered way

Creating value beyond discounts

Reducing attrition through proactive communication

Tracking simple metrics to understand club health

You’ll leave with practical tools to strengthen recurring revenue and build a more resilient business.

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.