Wineries Unlimited Conference and Trade Show

For the past three years winemakers and owners have encouraged us to attend Wineries Unlimited, the largest wine and vineyard related conference and trade show east of the Rocky Mountains. This event has occurred yearly since 1976. Produced by Vineyard and Winery Management magazine, the event takes place in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania from March 9^th to the 12^th. We will attend the trade show on the 10^th and blog and tweet about the trade show.

The exhibition area takes up two floors of the convention center where about 225 companies and 315 booths will entice attendees to stop by and learn about vineyard and wine-related products and services. Obviously we will be unable to cover that number in one day. I visited the Wineries Unlimited website for the current list of exhibitors and selected several that I would like to visit. My list grew to 33 so I will need to be somewhat selective within that group.

Many attendees are winemakers and growers. They can purchase much of the materials that they need for the year at this venue. Winemakers may buy barrels, bottles, corks, chemicals, equipment, etc. while growers may purchase vines, soil test equipment or machinery. There are booths that will be of interest to tasting room managers. Colleges will also be on hand to promote their viticulture and enology programs. The conference gives attendees a heads up on new products.

In addition to the trade show, there are four days of seminars in the categories of viticulture, enology and finance, management and marketing. Winemakers have mentioned that they attend this conference to learn about winemaking, especially new research and practices. They also network with other winemakers, growers and business industry representatives. We are looking forward to attending the trade show.