The President of the Provincial Government of Ciudad Real and the Rector of the University of Castile La Mancha have signed a cooperation agreement

11.03.2009 | 

The National Wine Fair, FENAVIN 2009, and the University of Castile La Mancha, UCLM, will work together so that the wineries present at the fair, which will be held between May 5 and 7 in Ciudad Real, can benefit from the latest research and scientific knowledge regarding the world of wine.

This agreement between the two institutions was signed in the presence of the President of the Provincial Government of Ciudad Real, Nemesio de Lara and the Rector of UCLM, Ernesto Martínez-Ataz. The Fair's Institutional Coordinator, Ángel Amador; the Vice-rectors of the university's Ciudad Real campus, Francisco Alía, and of Research, Francisco Quiles; the Director of FENAVIN, Manuel Julía; and the Provincial Government's Vice-president, Angel Caballero, accompanied them.

According to De Lara, "it is essential to have the presence of our university at this great fair, because education, research and knowledge are, without a doubt, the main added values that can make our wineries grow even more."

Martínez-Ataz reaffirmed his intention to join forces with a fair that he considers to be "magnificent" and "a national leader" and during which a series of round tables and events will be held. The aim of these "will be to reinforce communication between the world of university science and wine production," he stated.

UCLM will have a space at the fair for the promotion of its research groups, the results of its R&D lines and the transfer of its scientific-technological possibilities. Furthermore, it will organize bilateral meetings between researchers and businesspeople in order to set up R&D, innovation or technology transfer projects.

The latest scientific knowledge about wine, available for wineries

UCLM will have a stand located in Pavilion 1, Eneo, during the three days of the fair. Here, all the industry professionals who visit the fair for business reasons will also be able to find out about the UCLM research groups' scientific-technical capabilities, and introduce R&D and Innovation into their businesses, whether by navigating the university's website and reading its up-to-date Scientific Technological Catalogue, or by holding pre-arranged Company-University meetings.

These Company-University meetings, internationally known as brokerage events, last around 15-20 minutes. These are very popular tools at international trade fairs, since they meet an ever-present need for modernization through technological development.

With the organization of these meetings, UCLM puts the university R&D and Innovation groups that work in the industry in contact with winemakers, giving them the chance to establish new contacts and make agreements that can set in motion the technological developments the company needs to resolve current problems and prepare for the future.

Any entrepreneur interested in finding out about UCLM's scientific and technological possibilities and in taking part in a brokerage event, should, from the beginning of April, access the website www.fenavin.com. Here, it is possible to find out about the scientific-technological possibilities available for the occasion, to search for an item of interest and request a meeting with the pertinent researchers. This can be done by following the instructions on the website, which are simple and dynamic. The deadline for requesting a brokerage event is Friday April 24.

The UCLM researchers recommend that the system, with all the details and information, be checked at the event itself. There, the staff of the Vice-rector of Research's office, through the Oficina de Transferencia de Resultados de Investigación (OTRI) - Industrial Liaison Office (ILO)-, will be present. However, the most important thing will be the presence of the researchers with whom it will be possible to find out more about their work and to open up opportunities for new research projects.

Meetings and round tables: from wine marketing to the importance of the climate

UCLM will also work with FENAVIN on the organization of other activities, such as the workshop "Innovation as a Differentiation Strategy: From Biotechnology to Wine Marketing." This will be divided into five separate sessions, each lasting 45 minutes, with highlights such as "The Importance of Terroir in Winemaking." This session will include contributions from Luigi Bavaresco, lecturer at Piacenza's Universitá Cattolica Sacro Cuore, who will talk about "The importance of the Climate," and José Ángel Amorós Ortiz-Villajos, lecturer at UCLM, who will talk about "The Importance of the Soil."

There will also be lectures on "Biotechnology in Enology" and on "Dealcoholization and Wines with low alcohol content." This conference will be given by Ricardo Cordero, lecturer at the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona. There will also be a lecture given by Juan Bautista Úbeda Iranzo, (Professor at UCLM), who will talk about "Native yeasts Versus Commercial yeasts."

Another session will cover "Innovation in Enology," with talks on "Micro Oxygenation; Influence on Color and Astringency in Red Wines," by Fernando Zamora (lecturer at Tarragona's Rovira i Virgili University); and "Flavonols. Their Action in Co-pigmentation and Traceability" given by Isidro Hermosín Gutiérrez (UCLM lecturer).

The "Wine Marketing" session will feature Dr Rodolfo Luis Bernabeu Cañete (UCLM) and Dr Margarita Brugarolas Mollá-Bauzá, Professor at Miguel Hernández University. They will talk on the subjects "Wine Consumers' Preferences" and "The Local Market as a Sustainable Alternative for the Wine Industry," respectively. Lastly, a fifth session will be held, on the subject of "CIT Applied to Marketing," at which Jesús Damián García-Consuegra Bleda, Director of the Laboratorio de Sistemas de Información Distribuidos del Instituto de Investigación en Informática - Distributed Information Systems Laboratory - at the Albacete IT Research Institute (UCLM) will talk about the "Management of the Web's Wine Knowledge," together with Ángel Palazón Sánchez, from the same laboratory.

Another of the activities that UCLM will carry out at FENAVIN will be the round table "Effects and Consequences for the Industry of the New Wine CMO and the Great Debate Among Territories, from the Political, Administrative and Academic Points of View." This will have the participation of Francisco Martínez Arroyo, General Manager of Agricultural and Fishing Production in Castile La Mancha's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Marisa Soriano, Popular Party Member of the Castile La Mancha Council of Communities; Emilio Barco Royo, lecturer at the University of La Rioja; and Juan Sebastián Castillo Valero, lecturer at UCLM. Antonio Salinas, Socialist Party Member of the Castile La Mancha Council of Communities, will be the discussion leader.