24 August 1995 Lincoln's School In Grapes And Wine Coming up

"We are building on the success of the last two years and 'showcasing' Canterbury's cool climate viticulture", said Dr Michael Trought, of Lincoln University.

"We have attracted two internationally acclaimed overseas speakers and they will be supported by leaders in the New Zealand grape and wine industry and staff and postgraduate students here at Lincoln."

Dr Trought was referring to the 1995 Lincoln University Spring School in Grapes and Wine to be held at the University over 22 - 23 September. The School, originally started to celebrate the 20th anniversary in 1993 of David Jackson's grape plantings at Lincoln, has now become an annual event.

"It is an opportunity for the University to celebrate and to make a contribution to the local wine industry," he says.

"This year we have invited Peter Dry and Libbie Tassie from Australia as guest speakers and of note from the Lincoln staff is Dr Alison Stewart, an authority in the area of biological control systems for disease management."

Peter Dry is a Senior lecturer from the University of Adelaide and co-edited, with Bryan Coombes, the well-known Viticulture: Volumes 1 and 2. Recently Peter has been researching the response of grapes to water stress and this provides exciting new alternatives to irrigation management to minimise vegetation growth plus maximising quality yields. He will be discussing this new research and its cheap and easy implementation at the Spring School.

Libbie Tassie is the research viticulturalist with Australia's largest grape and wine company, Southcorp. She recently joined Southcorp from Charles Sturt University (Wagga Wagga) and her specialist topic is disease management. She will also be giving a scene setting introductory overview on antipodean wines and their impact and future on the world scene.

The occasion will be used to officially open the new Lincoln University winery accompanied by a ceremonial tasting of wines made over the last 22 years by Graeme Steans and Danny Schuster. The session will close on the Friday evening at 5.00pm to allow people to attend the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation's Grand Charity Wine Auction at the Civic Building.

Day two of the Spring School will involve formal presentations in the morning and a field excursion in the afternoon to North Canterbury to visit some vineyards at Waipara. The School concludes with a dinner on the Saturday evening at Lincoln University.

For more information and a brochure on the 1995 Spring School 22 - 23 September contact Errol Costello at the Centre for Continuing Education, telephone (03) 3253 832 or fax (03) 3253 840.