20 February 2026 Global wine experts visit Lincoln University: Cold Climate Symposium

The half-day event was organised by Associate Professor Bin Tian and Dr Olaf Schelezki as part of the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium, this year based in Christchurch. The event focuses on grape growing and winemaking in cool climate regions, such as New Zealand, and attracts experts from across the world.

Associate Professor Amber Parker was a keynote speaker at the event, sharing her insight on how climate change can impact cool climate viticulture.

The field trip to Lincoln University was one of three parallel workshops offered to guests. It began with a series of presentations where our researchers could show off their work. Academic staff spoke on a wide variety of research areas relating to viticulture and oenology, including plant pathology, sensory science and social science.

Professors Tim Clough and Stephen On, Assoc Prof Joanna Fountain, Senior Lecturers Shannon Page, Leandro Dias Araujo, Olaf Schelezki, Lecturer Shaoyang Wang and postgraduate student Beatrice Fulton all presented to the crowd, showcasing the interdisciplinary expertise of the Centre of Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University. They also showed off the new Agrivoltaics project and new vineyard establishment.

It was followed by a tour of the campus and a guided tasting by two-time New Zealand Winemaker of the Year winner and Lincoln alumnus Dom Maxwell.

The tasting focused on vineyard fermentation, a technique where the grapes are fermented in the vineyard itself to pick up on more environmental influences.

The event showed off what Lincoln University alumni are capable of doing, said LU Lecturer and Symposium committee member Associate Professor Bin Tian. All of the wines at the tasting were crafted by former students.

“They’re all very good, high-quality wines using innovative winemaking techniques.

“There’s kind of a consensus in the wine world that the best wine should capture the essence of that place. It’s what we call a French term, ‘terroir’. The grapes you get from a piece of vineyard carry a lot of terroir, but then that influence stops when you finish harvesting and transfer all those grapes into your winery.

“But if you do the fermentation in the vineyard, you might extend the influence of terroir further.”

Cool climate winemaking can only be done in certain places around the world, such as areas within Canada, France, Germany and small parts of Australia.

This was the third time the Symposium has been held in New Zealand. We took the cool climate spotlight for the first time in 1988 for the second-ever event, held in Auckland. The 2006 symposium was held in Christchurch.

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