WAVE / Ravenholt Seminar: Sustainability in Action

Description

The 2025 WAVE/Ravenholt seminar is a day for education, celebration and connecting. It combines two events into one—the annual WAVE (Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology) research seminar and WSU’s Ravenholt Lecture series. WAVE will highlight sustainable research efforts and solutions to winery and vineyard challenges, market trends of wine eco-labels, research poster displays, a key note WSU Ravenholt Lecture, and a celebration of the Sustainable WA certification program members during a networking social hour. Internationally renowned scientist, agro-ecologist and third generation viticulturist Mary Retallack will keynote the event as the WSU Ravenholt Lecturer. Retallack, a viticultural consultant, is based in Adelaide, Australia, co-founded and manages the National EcoVineyards Program, a three-year, $2.2M regionally-based initiative funded by Wine Australia. During her address, Retallack will share insight from the EcoVineyards Program and discuss general soil health and biodiversity practices and how they can be practically integrated into a vineyard management system. The Ecovineyards program works across nine wine growing regions and 75 demonstration sites to trial vineyard practices focused on cover crops, soil health and vineyard biodiversity (fauna and flora found in the area). Growers have access to region-specific resources, demonstration sites, regional on-ground coordinators, and extensive online resources as part of the program. The vineyard demonstrations incorporate the planting of native plant species to provide beneficial insect and pollinator habitat, a practice that also contributes to the vineyard esthetics and distinct look that is unique to Australia. Retallack’s participation as the Ravenholt Lecturer speaks volumes about the Washington wine industry’s commitment on wine quality and sustainability. Register for WAVE here: https://web.cvent.com/event/230e56e3-30a4-403e-98e9-9b49cd588f10/summary RSVP here for the 4:00pm celebration and social hour: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SustainableWA