The Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology was founded in 1980 as a non-political organisation to serve the interests of practising winemakers and viticulturists by encouraging the exchange of technical information.

The Society has held over 40 one-day seminars since it was established and, in conjunction with The Australian Wine Research Institute, organises the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference every three years.

2018 Frontline pest & disease management

Key speakers

Key speakers include:

  • Ollie Powrie who will share his success at Villa Maria in New Zealand with non-chemical Botrytis management
  • Andy Clarke from Yering Station describing life living with phylloxera
  • Cath Kidman from Treasury Wine Estates presenting her insights on clonal selection for vineyard longevity.
  • Vaughn Bell from New Zealand to provide updates from his team on virus management
  • Jim Pekin from Queensland. Jim will share his unique insights from the banana industry after recent significant outbreaks of Panama and Banana Freckle diseases.

2017 Intelligent systems - profitable winegrowing

The seminar program will be headlined by Dr Mike Briers AO, CEO of the Knowledge Economy Institute, and Dr Maria Paz Diago, of the Institute of Grapevine and Wine Sciences (ICVV) Universidad de La Rioja, Spain. Briers was named in the Knowledge Nation 100 as Australia’s chief evangelist for big data and the internet of things (IoT) and brings his vision to empower Australia’s food industry to grow its comparative advantage through digital transformation. Dr Diago’s research is focused on the application of new technologies to the vineyard and she will share her insights into digital measurement of yield, canopy porosity, fruit composition and soil mapping and monitoring.

2015 Vineyard longevity - maintaining the asset

  • ​​​​​​The Economic Longevity Challenge for Australian Vineyards         
  • The state of the Australian industry - economics and business profitability in different regions- Simon Berry
  • Future industry outlook - Stuart McNab
  • The Vineyard Longevity Challenge - Managing Biotic threats to Productivity          
  • Sustaining vineyards through management of grapevine trunk diseases  - Mark Sosnowski
  • Modelling the Economics of Preventative & Remedial Practices for managing Trunk Diseases - Kendra Baumgartner
  • A case study in re-training vineyards affected by trunk disease - Colin Hinze
  • Sustained performance of rootstocks in Lower Murray vineyards - Tim Pitt
  • The Vineyard Longevity Challenge - Managing Abiotic threats to Productivity       
  • Climate impacts and business adaptation - Paul Petrie
  • Salinity management strategies-  Kerry Degaris
  • Optimising the management of soils and organic matter. The role of soil carbon in drought resilience.  - Jeff Baldock
  • The impact of Grapevine Viruses in New Zealand Vineyards - Vaughan Bell
  • Innovation and Adaptation for Long Term Survival            
  • Case study of business diversification - Sue Bell
  • Branding the family vineyard– be the purple cow in a herd of brown - Ashley Ratcliff
  • Opportunities with disease resistant cultivars - Ian Dry

2014 Searching for the sweetspot

The first session will cover the accumulation of flavour and aroma compounds in wine grapes. The second session, on capturing quality in premium regions, will be opened by one of our two key note speakers. Professor Stefano Poni will give a European insight on leaf removal and management of crop load. His talk will be followed by presentations on managing Shiraz to optimise quality in Central Victoria and the Barossa and insights on managing and producing high quality Cabernet Sauvignon in Margaret River.

The third session will be opened by our second key note speaker; Dr Martin Mendez-Costabel from E&J Gallo Winery. He will speak about cultural practices used to manage fruit quality in California. This session will also include presentations about managing inputs to meet winery specifications. Our third international speaker and ASVO board member, Dr Mike Trought will challenge the dogma that high yields lead to inferior wine quality.

The final session will focus on managing seasonal impacts on grape and wine quality. Presentations in this session include; making better management decisions with a ‘Canopy Analysis App.’ ; the importance of carbohydrates in managing seasonal variability and the impact of harvest time on Cabernet Sauvignon wine composition.