2021 Oregon Wine Symposium | Review of Grape Phenolics and Effects of Maceration Techniques

Dr. James Kennedy is principal of Functional Phenolics LLC. Kennedy is most widely recognized for his grape and wine phenolic chemistry research and has published extensively in peer reviewed journals and trade publications. He has held positions as associate professor at Oregon State University, research manager for chemistry at the Australian Wine Research Institute, chair of the department of viticulture and enology at California State University, Fresno as well as president of Polyphenolics and Canandaigua Concentrate. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Bordeaux and is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide. Kennedy is a recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Young Scientist Award. He is a past president of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture and serves as an associate editor for the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture and Catalyst. Kennedy is also an editor for the International Viticulture and Enology Society’s journal technical reviews.

Dr. Keren Bindon is a research manager at the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI). She has a background in biology and plant physiology, and graduated with a Ph.D. in viticulture from the University of Adelaide in 2004. She went on to lecture in viticulture and oenology at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa until 2008, when she joined the AWRI. Over her career she has specialised in understanding the grape to wine interface, with a particular focus on the viticultural and oenological factors affecting the concentration, extraction and stability of grape macromolecules. She has collaborated on a number of projects seeking to identify the effect of maceration techniques on the extraction of compounds from grapes and the sensory outcomes in wine, aiming toward a “holistic approach” in her research. She has a strong interest in contextualizing research to provide meaningful outcomes for the grape and wine industry, and regularly participates in extension activities.

Following a short and lackluster swordfishing career in his home state of Maine, Michael moved to California and studied at UC Davis. While making wine at Acacia and then Hanzell, Michael founded Obsidian Ridge, a high-elevation volcanic Cabernet producer, with the Molnar Family. He divides his time now between three places: Obsidian, U.S. Grant (a winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains), and Maine, where he makes wild blueberry sparkling wine.

Sam Tannahill graduated from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA, and received a post graduate degree from the University de Dijon. In 2002 Sam and his wife, Cheryl Francis, founded A to Z Wineworks with their partners, Bill and Deb Hatcher. In 2007 A to Z Wineworks acquired REX HILL. A to Z is one of Oregon’s largest wineries and has led sustainability in the wine industry by becoming a certified LIVE winery, a founding member of the Governor’s Climate Challenge and in 2014 the world’s first B Corp certified winery.

Sam has chaired the Oregon Business Association, the Oregon Wine Board and the Oregon Winegrowers Association, was a member of the Nature Conservancy’s Oregon Business Leaders’ Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Task Force, the International Pinot Noir Celebration Board and the Governor’s GMO Task Force. He currently serves on the board of the Oregon Business Council, Oregon Business and Industry, Oregon State’s Food Science and Technology Advisory Board, Business Oregon’s Futures Commission, and is co-founder of the Oregon Food and Beverage Leadership Council.

Vince Vidrine is the winemaker at Irvine & Roberts Vineyards in Ashland, Oregon. A graduate of Oregon State Univerisity’s food science and technology program, Vince worked in the Willamette Valley for many years before moving to the Rogue Valley in 2017.