With the wine industry confronting some of the most consequential questions in a generation, the team that will shape the conversation at the industry’s largest gathering is now in place. The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium (UW&GS) today announced that Susan Owen, Senior Director of Sales at G3 Enterprises, and Ed Feuchuk, General Manager of Tank Garage Winery and Farm Collective Napa Valley, will serve as co-chairs of the 2027 Program Development Committee.
The UW&GS Program Development Committee is responsible for identifying the issues, trends and opportunities most important to growers, winemakers and allied industry members, and developing an educational program that helps attendees start the year informed and prepared.
Owen returns to the leadership role after serving as a co-chair for the past two years. A respected wine packaging executive with extensive experience across the wine industry, Owen brings a collaborative leadership style and a passion for industry service. She currently leads a team of wine packaging experts across North America for G3 Enterprises and has previously held leadership positions with Juclas USA and the Vason Group.
Joining her is Feuchuk, a wine industry marketer and brand builder with nearly two decades of experience developing innovative direct-to-consumer wine brands. As general manager for Farm Collective Napa Valley, he has led creative, strategic and technical initiatives for brands including Tank Garage Winery, James Cole Winery, Regusci Winery and T-Vine Winery. His work has been featured in publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times and Wine Spectator.
“The decisions this industry makes in the next few years will shape it for a generation, and Unified is where those conversations happen,” said Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers and a member of Unified Symposium Management LLC. “Susan and Ed bring the right mix of experience and fresh thinking to lead the 2027 program. Together with a committee that spans every corner of the industry, they’ll build a program that sends people home in January with answers they can actually use.”
The committee has begun meeting to identify key industry topics, recruit speakers and develop the educational program for the 2027 Unified Symposium.
The 2027 UW&GS Program Development Committee includes experts in grapegrowing, winemaking, business operations, marketing and communications and Spanish-language education. Committee members represent wineries, vineyards, universities, industry organizations and allied businesses from across California and beyond.
For the list of the 2027 Program Development Committee, visit the Unified Symposium website under Program Information.
The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium is jointly organized by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV) and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. The 2027 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium will be held January 26-28 at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento. — Story contributed by the United Wine & Grape Symposium
“The Unified offers guests a unique opportunity to listen to some of the most informed and respected voices in the industry discuss emerging trends and issues, and then step into the exhibit hall where much of the equipment, supplies and services they had just heard about are on display,” says John Aguirre, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) and co-sponsor of the Unified. “That melding of cutting-edge information with onsite practical solutions is what makes the Unified such a powerful resource.”