US WINE EXECUTIVE CALLS FOR MORE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Nick Dokoozlian, VP for viticulture at E&J Gallo Winery, stressed the importance of mandatory research and development procedures for United States wine-growers Tuesday at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium. "We have numerous funding organizations, but the contribution is voluntary," said Nick. "We need to make that funding process more vigorous." He believes that by making research and development assessments an obligation, the American wine industry can shorten the gap between Australian R&D which is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and threatening to California wineries. “I don't see how we get to the level of R&D that's necessary in this country without a mandatory levy on wine-grape production." Overall, the Australian wine industry spends three times more than the U.S. on research and development despite the countries’ disproportionate sizes.

Robin Day, owner of Australia's Domain Day wines, said "The biggest impact of an active research program is surely the delivery of a new and improved culture of quality." Australian vintners pay a mandatory fee of roughly $8 per ton that is collected and matched by the government and then spread equally to various research needs in the industry. Furthermore, Australia’s ever increasing wine growth has consistently cut into California’s market share which has gone down from 75% to 66%. "We are really behind the eight ball," said Nick. "Most of the wine industry and gatekeepers have little idea of what attributes in wine consumers like and dislike."