Sustainable & Efficient Winery Practices – Do More with less

Nichola Hall

Organization:

Scott Laboratories, California

BSc (HONS) Microbial Biotechnology, University of Abertay Dundee, United Kingdom, 1997. Ph.D. Yeast Physiology and Fermentation Science, University of Abertay Dundee, United Kingdom, 2001. Dr. Hall has held various positions in the wine industry: Director of Microbiology at Bronco Wine Company, Ceres, CA (2002-2007), Technical Consultant at Vinquiry, Inc., Windsor, CA (2007-2009) and is currently at Scott Laboratories, Petaluma, CA employed as the General manager for the Fermentation and Enology Department (2009- Present). From 2009- Present, Dr. Hall is co-winemaker at Mathew Bruno Wines. Dr. Hall is very involved in the American Society of Enology and Viticulture serving as president in 2016-2017. She is a past chair of the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium and a long-standing member of the AVF grant management Enology committee.

Scott McLeod

Organization:

WINEXRAY LLC., California

Scott McLeod
Co-Founder, WINEXRAY LLC.

Scott worked his first harvest in Tuscany and realized the importance of site, geology, geography, climate and for maintaining a global perspective of the wine business. Scott moved to Napa and began his career as a Winemaker for the Coppola Family at their Rutherford estate where he spent eighteen years becoming a Consulting Winemaker in 2010.

Soon after, Scott cofounded WINEXRAY LLC with Dr. Giovanni Colantuoni and set out to democratize phenolics measurements by implementing a rapid phenolics protocol based on the original Harbertson-Adams Phenolics Assay from the University of California at Davis. Fifteen years and hundreds of thousands of samples later, WINEXRAY provides consultation and wine and grape phenolics measurements to clients in the U.S. as well as in France and Italy.

Sally Nightingale

Organization:

Constellation Brands, Inc., California

Sally discovered her passion for winemaking while studying Oenology at the University of Adelaide. After graduating, she embarked on a planned short-term harvest in New Zealand, which turned into a 15-year journey with Wither Hills Winery in Marlborough, where she advanced from Cellar Hand to Winemaker and Global Brand Ambassador.

Her love of exploration led her to complete vintages in Burgundy and California’s Russian River Valley. In 2018, Sally returned to California to focus on cool-climate wines. By 2022, she joined The Prisoner Wine Company, embracing a creative role crafting distinctive wines and working with diverse varietals and microclimates across California.

Outside the winery, Sally enjoys traveling, camping, cooking, and using fresh produce from her garden. She lives in sunny California with her husband and two young children.

Stephan Sommer

Organization:

University of Missouri, Columbia

University of Missouri, Assistant Extension Professor and State Extension Specialist for Enology
PhD Microbiology and Wine Science, Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
Engineering Diploma in Beverage Technology, Hochschule Geisenheim University, Germany

Dr. Sommer joined the Grape and Wine Institute at the University of Missouri in August 2022. He is the enology program leader and provides extension support for all wineries in the State of Missouri. Prior to moving to Missouri, he was the Director of the Viticulture and Enology Research Center at California State University Fresno. As Director of VERC, he provided research and administrative leadership by planning, promoting, and administering all viticulture and enology research programs. Prior to that, Dr. Sommer was the academic program director and an Assistant Professor of Fermentation Sciences at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. He also brings more than eight years of industry experience in various fields of beverage production including wineries, sparkling wine companies, breweries, table water production, and related fields including industrial flavor production.