Celebrity guest Jancis Robinson is visiting Aruba, invited by Arion Wine Company in honor of its 20-year anniversary celebration.
Jancis is an author, lecturer and world-class authority on wine, she writes a weekly column for the Financial Times of London and complements it with daily posts on her website.
While on the island Jancis met the island’s third year hospitality students, for an interactive session focusing on sustainability. The session took place at the Arion Wine Company headquarter, in Ponton.
In her presentation to students Jancis went on to describe the wine scene at the beginning of her career as a writer and the exciting innovations unfolding now all over the globe, with new wine varieties, many of them indigenous and previously ignored, re-discovered, and brought back to life.
She discussed the influence of global warming on grape harvests, and how countries are benefitting from warmer climes, while some must work very hard to overcome the rising temperatures and the pre-mature ripening of grapes.
She talked about old vines, natural wines, the introduction of twist caps, the use of cork bottle stoppers, and lighter glass bottles. She discussed the importance of soil-health and biodynamic methods designed to deliver healthier more productive vines.
She stated it was pivotal to speak to guests about their likes and expectations, she weighed in on aluminum cans and carton packaging, on organic wines and the need to reduce the industry’s carbon footprints.
The engaged and engaging session concluded with a Q&A session and a group photo opportunity.
The students were amazed at the depth Jancis’ knowledge and the complexity of wine production.
