Vic Motto of Global Wine Partners advised how to succeed in the luxury wine market. PHOTOS: Kent Hanson

Attendees Warren Winiarski of Stag's Leap, with microphone, and Larry Hyde of Hyde Vineyard.

Napa, Calif. -- Why were the Napa Valley Grapegrowers presenting an all-day symposium and trade show on Oct. 30 at Copia that included the topics of "How to Succeed in the Luxury Wine Market" and "Managing Red Wine Fermentation for Premium Production"? Those are winemaking and marketing matters, not farming topics.

Arnulfo Solorio of Silverado Farming lectured in Spanish on vine pests and diseases.

Tondi Bolkan of Rubicon Estate spoke about using the new tannin assay.

"Today we have so many growers who have started making wine, and so many wineries that have added significant vineyard holdings," said Jennifer Kopp, the group's executive director. "We decided to start this program in the year between our viticulture fairs to give them a lot more information on the winery side."

The first-ever Napa Grape + Wine Expo included a trade show inside and out, and simultaneous programs running in two different Copia auditoriums. Programs in Spanish addressed "Pest & Disease Identification" and "Community Resources."

Richard Descenzo of ETS Laboratories explained the new Scorpion Analysis.

Celia Masyczek and Bob Levy went into depth on managing red-wine fermentation.

The new Scorpion Analysis for detecting Brettanomyces and other spoilage microorganisms was taught by Richard Descenzo of ETS Laboratories. Doug Adams of UC Davis demonstrated the tannin assay that he co-created. Ed Weber, the Napa County farm advisor, led a comparative tasting of wines made from hang time trials during the 2005 harvest.

Other talks covered vineyard and winery labor issues, viticulture and winemaking updates, and "The How and Why Behind the Wine Industry Solar Boom."