The 2025 Global Old Vine Conference offers attendees countless networking and learning opportunities.
By Alexandra Russell
Every vineyard has a story to tell: site history, soil makeup, rootstock and clonal choices, harvest after harvest after harvest.
Now take these opportunities and multiply them again and again … and again. That’s the magic of old vines, those rarefied plantings that have survived decades of viticultural changes and climate challenges while continuing to produce extraordinary wines.
Many of these stories — and the people who tell them — will gather later this month at the 2025 Global Old Vine Conference (OVC), which takes place Oct. 31 through Nov. 4 in California (click here for more details). The event is expected to draw an international audience of trade and media to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world’s old vines.
“ZAP is proud to help lead this first-of-its-kind collaboration in California,” says Rebecca Robinson, executive director of Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP). “Together with The Old Vine Conference, we’re curating vineyard visits, tastings and discussions that will include the world’s leading voices in heritage viticulture, and visiting some of the many wine regions in California where old vines thrive. For anyone engaged in their marketing, cultivation or preservation, this is a must-attend event.”
Old vines matter
“Old vines are living testaments to history and culture, venerable representatives of people and times past that provide us a tangible — and delicious! — way of connecting to the cultural history of a place,” says Alder Yarrow, manager of the Old Vine Registry, who will be featured at the OVC as both a moderator and panelist.
“[These vines] also represent priceless vaults of genetic and epigenetic material, including grape varieties and clones that might otherwise be lost to history,” he continues. “These plants have managed to survive everything from wars to urban sprawl to climate change and, in that persistence, they have something to teach us about how to ensure wine survives in our changing future.”
Joel Peterson, aka the “Godfather of Zinfandel,” will also pull double duty, first presenting an overview of the historical roots of California’s old vines and their lasting influence on the state’s wine industry, and later hosting visitors at Bedrock Vineyard, a more than 170-year-old vineyard in Sonoma Valley.
“Old vines are the echo of California wine history and business,” says Peterson. “The old vines, especially Zinfandel and mixed black vineyards, are the most European-like vines in California. By that I mean that they share the attributes that the vines producing the best wines of Europe boast: unique high quality planting sites, dry-farmed, low production and terroir responsive. Old vines make delicious wine.”
Conference highlights
Through a series of in-person series of tastings, seminars, panel debates, masterclasses on specific global regions, research presentations and old-vine field-trips, OVC attendees will learn about the importance and heritage of historic vineyards. Highlights will include presentations from José Ignacio Gracia Lopez, director and technical secretary, CRDO Campo de Borja, who will share new analytical research on old-vine Garnacha and also discuss “How vine age affects ageing capacity and flavor development” and “The accurate certification of old vine age.”
Yarrow adds, “Any event where we get a chance to hear from the legendary Rosa Kruger is exciting.” Kruger, founder The Old Vine Project, South Africa, will participate in a panel that explores how hands-on training and shared knowledge can empower the next generation to care for and carry forward old vine vineyards. She will also deliver the first day’s closing address.
The well-rounded curriculum will also include sessions on sustainability, marketing, economics and a spirited debate on what constitutes “heritage.” This open-floor discussion will include perspectives from science, history, policy, and the vineyards, as panellists debate whether heritage can — or should — be measured.
Hands-on learning
The October 31 – November 4 conference, which is split over two session days and multiple locations in California, includes organized outings to legendary sites such as Bedrock (mentioned above), JJ Vineyard and Evangelho in Contra Costa County; Kirschenmann Vineyard, Mohr-Fry Ranch, Marian’s Vineyard and Bechtold Vineyard in Lodi; Aldo’s Vineyard in Napa; Whitton Ranch a vineyard of Ridge Winery in Geyserville; and Jackass Hill in Russian River Valley. Wines from these vineyards and many others will be tasted along the way.
“It is important to recognize, and honor the legacy and struggle of multiple generations, that these old vines represent.” says Peterson. “While we acknowledge the pleasure that the wines from these vines have given to multiple generations of wine lovers, it’s also important to stand for these vines, as they are endangered by the latest varietal craze, neo-prohibition — many already survived and earlier one — climate change and urban development.”
Whether you’re interested in the farming choices that have led to their longevity or the cultural significance of a specific variety or location, old vineyards hold lessons for everyone in the wine industry.
“We’ll taste the greatness of old vines, walk vineyard landscapes shaped by generations of effort, and share ideas that will galvanize wine’s future. There’s no gathering like this anywhere,” says conference organizer Sarah Abbott, MW.
Click here to learn more about the 2025 Global Old Vine Conference.
Alexandra Russell
Alexandra Russell is Managing Editor at Wine Industry Advisor. She can be reached at arussell@wineindustryadvisor.com
