A Brazilian has been elected as President of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine for the next three years, succeeding Monika Christmann.

Régina VANDERLINDE, a professor of biotechnology at the University of Caxias do Sul has been elected by the Member States of the OIV for a mandate of three years.

Holding a doctorate in biological sciences with a focus in enology-ampélologie from the ‘Université de Bordeaux’ she has been a member of the Brazilian delegation to the OIV she also served as the Scientific Secretary of the Sub-commission for Methods of Analysis.

She is happy that South American viticulture has been recognised by the community of the OIV and is pleased to be the third consecutive female President of the OIV.

Here's a short video where the new president expresses her thanks to the member states and her future goals at the OIV presidency (in French and subtitled in English):

At this General Assembly the Presidents of the scientific bodies were also elected:

Commission I Viticulture
Vittorino NOVELLO (Italy) suceeds à Benjamin BOIS (France)
Commission II Enology
Dominique TUSSEAU (France) suceeds Luigi MOIO (Italy)
Commission III Law and Economy
Dimitar ANDREEVSKI (Bulgaria) suceeds Tony BATTAGLENE (Australia)
Commission IV Safety and Health
Gheorghe ARPENTIN (Moldavia) suceeds Nuria GARCIA TEJEDOR (Spain)
Sub-commission Methods of Analysis
Markus HERDERICH (Australia) suceeds Ondrej MIKES (Czech Republic)
Sub-commission Non-fermented products, table grapes and raisins
Alejandro MARIANETTI (Argentina) suceeds Luis PERES DE SOUSA (Portugal)

The Gabrielle Dorziat theatre in Epernay (listed as a historical monument) hosted 38 official projections, selected out of 128 films from 19 countries in the competition. This year’s festival confirmed its international scope, giving awards to productions from Chile, China, Spain, the United States, France, Great Britain, Italy and Lebanon. Consult the list of award winners (link in French).

A travelling festival since its creation, at the invitation of the Champagne Committee and the Town of Epernay, Oenovideo celebrated hitting the quarter-century mark toasting with the bubbles so characteristic of the region.

At the same time as the festival, the 13^th Terroir d’Images exhibition (link in French) was presented in Reims (and is on until 13 July 2018) at the Maison Diocésaine Saint Sixte, under the theme of ‘Biodiversity from daybreak to moonrise in the vineyards and surroundings’ (Biodiversité : du jour naissant au clair de lune - Dans les vignes et alentours). Over 100 photos were selected out of 1500 photos from 15 countries in the competition. The Grand Prix winner will be revealed during the official awards ceremony, which will take place on Wednesday 17 October 2018 in the Palais du Luxembourg, in Paris.

Climate change and sustainability: a central theme for the films put forward

The OIV Press Officer, Daniela Costa, praised the quality of this year’s festival, marked by a common concern in all of the films presented: climate change and sustainability.

This is a priority issue for the OIV, as attested by the presence of ‘Promote sustainable vitiviniculture’ as one of the five strategic axes established for the OIV Strategic Plan 2015-2019. Additionally, in 2015 the OIV decided to restructure its working groups through the creation of a multidisciplinary, horizontal group – the ENVIRO Group – dedicated to the theme of ‘Sustainable development and climate change’.

Find out more about the work of the OIV on sustainable development and climate change:

• Moving towards a reduction in the limit on lead in wines within the Codex Alimentarius

• The OIV – partner of the 4 per 1000 initiative

• Wine and sustainability