Todhunter Vineyards at the Annual PA Grape & Wine Industry Conference

This week, Todhunter Vineyards is proud to be attending the annual PA Grape & Wine Industry Conference in State College, Pennsylvania. This year, the conference is hosted at the beautiful Nittany Lion Inn, a listed Historic Hotels of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Why This Conference Matters

Each year, grape growers, winemakers, researchers, PennState Extension educators, and industry partners from across Pennsylvania and nearby states gather to share knowledge, compare notes, and strengthen the future of East Coast wine.

Each year, attendees look forward to:

• Viticulture sessions on canopy management, pruning strategies, nutrient management, soil health, and pest control

• Disease management updates tailored to Pennsylvania’s humid climate

• Research presentations on cold hardiness, varietal trials, and emerging cultivars

• Winemaking workshops on fermentation science, sensory analysis, and quality control

• Regulatory and marketing updates specific to Pennsylvania wineries

• Trade show exhibits featuring new vineyard and cellar technologies

(In other words, this is our favorite professional conference of the year!).

What We Expect to Learn

Vineyards face many factors in growing conditions; some we share with other regional agricultural operations, but the combination of factors is unique to each operation. So conferences like this allow us to compare our practices, successes, and challenges, with growers across the state and refine our approach. And then there's the reserarch presented by Penn State graduate students and faculty - aside from being super interesting, the contents of these presentations and the Q&A that follows often translate directly into better vineyard decisions within weeks of returning home.

Bringing the Benefits Home

What does this mean for you — our friends, supporters, and future guests? Smarter vineyard management, cleaner fermentations, better wines, stronger resilience against disease and weather challenges, and continued innovation in how we operate our business.

Every year, we return from State College energized, with new ideas and practical improvements to implement. Those improvements ultimately show up in the glass.

We are grateful to be part of Pennsylvania’s growing wine story, and grateful for opportunities like this to keep learning and improving.

If you see us walking the halls of the Nittany Lion Inn this week, say hello!

Here’s to education, collaboration, and another strong season ahead at Todhunter Vineyards.