Media releases

  • East meets west in friendly competition for Great Chardo Swap

    MEDIA RELEASE: 20 October 2017  – R00192

    A dozen Niagara winemakers are creating some unique wines for a prestigious event.

    Niagara has been named as the host for the prestigious International Cool Climate Wine Symposium (ICCWS) in 2020, the event’s 10th anniversary. As part of the lead-up to the symposium, 12 Niagara winemakers are using grapes from two specific vineyards to produce an assortment of one-of-a-kind Chardonnays.

    The Great Chardo Swap will see six winemakers from east of the Welland Canal making wine from grapes grown on the west side of the canal, and six winemakers from the west side making wine from chardonnay grapes grown on the east side. Two of those winemakers, Emma Garner (BSc ’04) from Thirty Bench Wine Makers and Shiraz Mottiar (BSc ’00) from Malivoire Wine Company, are graduates of Brock’s Oenology and Viticulture program. All of the fruit to make the Chardonnays is being donated by Inniskillin Wines and Thirty Bench.

    In total, 14 different Chardonnays will be developed during the initiative and unveiled at the ICCWS in 2020. Other than using the same closures and bottle type, the winemakers will have free rein to make their own distinct Chardonnay however they wish.

    Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) collaborated with stakeholder organizations across the country to bring the ICCWS to Canada, and it was CCOVI Senior Oenologist Belinda Kemp who came up with the idea for the Great Chardo Swap after hearing about a similar initiative that took place in New Zealand.

    “The focus on terroir in wines is usually from a vineyard perspective that can sometimes neglect the influence of the winemaker and how their decisions and techniques impact the final wine,” Kemp said. “It will be interesting to see if specific traits and flavours follow through from one vineyard, regardless of who is making the wine, and whether we end up with very similar or very different wines from each vineyard.”

    Craig McDonald, Vice-President of Winemaking at Andrew Peller Limited, said he was on board to donate fruit from Andrew Peller’s Thirty Bench from the start.

    He said the experiment will provide new insight into the differences between the Niagara-on-the-Lake and Beamsville bench areas.

    “Likely, it will take some winemakers out of their comfort zone and challenge them with something new. In the end, it will be both a sensory and intellectual journey of discovery for all involved,” McDonald said.

    Bruce Nicholson, winemaker from Inniskillin Wines, said the initiative will serve as a means to showcase the local wine industry on an international level.

    “Niagara makes world-class wines, Chardonnay being right up there, and this really gives people a chance to see what we’re doing and how far we’ve come,” he explained. “We’re an industry in our infancy compared to other regions, but we’ve come such a long way. This will put a spotlight on our brilliant winemakers and really just be a lot of fun.”

    All of the wines will be part of a grand tasting at the ICCWS, where attendees will have the chance to discuss the decisions made by the winemakers at each stage of the process.

    East side winemaking team:
    Fabian Reis, Ferox
    J.L. Groux, Stratus Vineyards
    Ann Sperling, Southbrook Vineyards
    Amelie Boury,
    Château des Charmes
    Bruce Nicholson, Inniskillin Wines
    Craig McDonald, Trius Winery

    West side winemaking team:
    Arthur Harder, Westcott Vineyards
    Emma Garner, Thirty Bench Wine Makers
    Angelo Pavan, Cave Spring Cellars
    Sandrine Bourcier, Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery
    Shiraz Mottiar, Malivoire Wine Company
    Thomas Bachelder, Bachelder Wines

     

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

    * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

    – 30 –

    Categories: Media releases

  • Brock expert available to comment on significance of naval turning point anniversary

    MEDIA RELEASE: 20 October 2017 – R00191

    A Brock University expert is available to comment on the 50th anniversary of an anti-ship cruise missile sinking a navy warship for the first time ever.

    Associate Professor Michael Armstrong, who uses mathematical models to study missile combat at sea and short-range rocket defenses on land, said the sinking of the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat on Oct. 21, 1967 “opened the eyes of navies around the world.”

    Armstrong, Associate Professor of operations research in the Goodman School of Business, said that event forced the development of missile defence systems, which are back in the news these days with the growing tension between the U.S. and North Korea.

    “It’s much more on people’s minds,” said Armstrong, who authored an article on the issue recently in The Conversation Canada.

    In the years since the INS Eilat was destroyed, Armstrong said there have only been two cases of warships using interceptor missiles to down hostile cruise missiles coming at them. One came in 1991 when Britain’s HMS Gloucester shot down an Iraqi cruise missile, and then in October 2016, the USS Mason defended itself from attacking cruise missiles while patrolling the Red Sea.

    While the concept of missile defence from the sea or on land is essentially the same — “you have this incoming missile and you try to shoot it down with a missile,” Armstrong says — actually shooting down a ballistic missile like the ones being tested in North Korea is more complicated.

    “On a ship, the challenge is to detect that missile. Once you pick it up on radar, it’s relatively easy to shoot down. It’s also relatively easy to distract and fool the incoming missile,” he says.

    Ballistic missiles, on the other hand, are easy to see because they show up on radar systems around the world.

    “But they’re harder to hit because they’re flying over 10 times faster. They’re way up in the sky,” Armstrong says.

    And unlike a cruise missile that would simply crash into the sea if it’s damaged by a defence system, it’s not enough to just damage a ballistic missile because it could still end up crashing down over a populated area.

    So is North America ready if a ballistic missile is fired in its direction?

    “Nobody really knows,” Armstrong says. “This comes back to the naval context. The one system that is considered most reliable or has the best chance is the technology that’s based off the naval system.”

     

    Associate Professor Michael Armstrong is available for interviews on the issue.

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

    * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

    Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

    – 30 –

    Categories: Media releases