Keynote Speaker Luncheon
January 26, 2027
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Keynote Speaker Luncheon
Welcome & Introductions
To be announced
Keynote Speaker Luncheon
As the wine industry navigates changing consumer demand, shifting global markets and continued economic pressures, Mike Veseth will offer his full outlook after years of shaping the conversation as moderator of the popular State of the Industry general session.
Veseth, an economist and author, will offer a wide-angle look at the economic forces reshaping the global wine trade and what they signal for the years ahead.
Drawing on decades of tracking wine markets across major producing and consuming countries, Veseth will connect global trends to practical, on-the-ground implications for winegrape growers, wineries and other industry businesses. The stand-alone keynote presentation will be followed by an audience Q&A, giving attendees an opportunity to dig deeper into the issues shaping the industry’s future.
“Mike has helped Unified audiences make sense of this industry for many years, but this allows us to hear from him in a different way,” said Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers and member of the Unified Symposium LLC Managing Committee. “He has a unique ability to connect what’s happening around the world to what it means for the people growing grapes, making wine and running businesses here at home.”
The Tuesday Keynote Luncheon is priced separately and includes a plated lunch and wine. The Keynote Luncheon is an add-on event only.
Share This Page
Speakers
Mike Veseth (pronounced VEE-seth) is editor of The Wine Economist newsletter (WineEconomist.com) and author of more than a dozen books including Wine Wars (2011), Around the World in Eighty Wines (2018) and Wine Wars II: The Global Battle for the Soup of Wine (2022). He is a sought-after speaker at wine industry meetings both in the United States and around the world.
Veseth’s writings on wine and globalization have been widely praised. Globaloney was selected as a Best Business Book of 2005. Wine Wars was named a Best Wine Book of 2011. The Wine Economist was named Best Wine Blog by Gourmand International in 2015. Money, Taste, and Wine: It’s Complicated received the 2016 Gourmand International award for Best Wine Writing.
A noted educator, Veseth is professor emeritus of International Political Economy at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. In 2010 he was named Washington Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Veseth received the Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Puget Sound and the Master’s and Ph.D degrees in Economics from Purdue University.