In Al Gore’s speech to us in the final hour of the II International Conference on Climate and Wine, he was asked by an attendee of the conference if children were being adequately educated on the topic of climate change. His response was simply that no, they weren’t, but that we needed to take great caution when we do choose to educate them on the inevitable, considering that it is they who will see the most dire consequences of this phenomenon. And if, and when, we do decide to step up to the plate and present them with the facts of figures of tomorrow’s changing world, we must do so with great caution so that they may not look upon the future with fear and hesitation, but rather hope. And when they look back to the past at their parent’s efforts during a time of change and instability, they will do so with pride that their ancestors stood up against great odds to make the hard choices necessary to permit change towards a greener, healthier, more balanced, existence: an existence that changed its focus from consumption to preservation, from greed to sharing and from fear to openness.

As an educator, I took these ideas to heart, because I still feel that the majority of people look at this issue as if it is too big, too large and too ominous to tackle. And because CO2 is odorless and invisible, we can’t quantifiably measure our contribution against it. If we had a little dial mounted in our kitchen tracking each time we chose not to use our car, chose energy efficient appliances or recycled our waste, maybe this would make a difference, but for now, many feel as if they cannot do anything to significantly change …

This past weekend, I not only had the opportunity to meet some incredibly important people in the wine industry, but I also was able to understand how climate change will affect wineries both today and well into the future. Led by Pancho Campo, a man with an environmental mission, I was excited to see his enthusiasm and passion for this subject. What I also appreciated was his frank, pragmatic nature. Talk to Pancho and you will never hear that the sky is falling or that doom and gloom is right around the corner for the wine industry. Instead, you will encounter someone who acknowledges change is near, and regardless if you believe him or not, you will be effected. This is why I felt very disappointed by the lack of participation by Spanish wineries. Though we had a few Spanish climate experts speak, and Pancho himself is Spanish, the only voice that really stood out was that of Miguel Torres. Sure there were some Spanish wineries pouring their wines outside the conference during our breaks and at lunchtime, but very few. And of those handful of Spanish wineries that attended, when asked, “What are you doing about climate change”, answered, “nothing”. Now to be fair, there were wineries representing four to five different countries, and some of the these wineries had the same response; but seriously, if you’re going to pour wine at a Climate Change and Wine conference, I would think you might have a better answer than, “nothing”.

All this aside, what was even more shocking and disappointing was the lack of representation from Spain’s wine regions and historic wineries. Not one person I saw or spoke to was …

As I sit staring at the computer today after 12 hours of constant chat on how global warming is effecting both the earth and the our wines, I’m still reeling with questions and concerns. Granted, I never expected to walk out of the II International Conference on Climate and Wine with all of my questions answered, but I was hoping to leave with a sense of hope and direction. Sadly, I’m just not feeling it.

Our day started with a rather frenetic start, as I failed horrifically in my duty to set the alarm for 6am. Instead, we woke up at 8:00am, completely freaking out, because we were expected to arrive at the conference an hour and a half later, which is not big deal if it didn’t take you that exact same amount of time to travel to your destination. However, by the grace of the Blogger God, we magically arrived at the Hesperia Hotel in Barcelona on the dot with our cameraman, Richard, waiting with a smile and cup of coffee. Albeit a nerve-wracking start, we eventually settled ourselves into our seats with among 350 other people from 36 countries, and began the conference.

To give you a little background, the first International Conference on Climate and Wine two years ago was both considered a major success and a major failure, mainly due to the fact that only 76 people registered for the event. Hence, Pancho Campo, the founder of the conference, lost a considerable amount of money putting the entire conference together with such a low turnout. Yet, he’s is not the type of guy to give up easily, preferring to proceed with a second conference to be scheduled two years later in hopes …

Before the II International Conference on Climate and Wine begins tomorrow, we were fortunate enough to steal a few moments away with Pancho Campo, the founder of this conference and the pioneer behind research on the impact of climate change in the wine industry. Pancho also happens to be the president and founder of The Wine Academy of Spain, an official instructor for the WSET, and an Official Sherry Educator (one of our favorite of his titles!). And as if you aren’t feeling lazy enough sitting on your chair sipping on a glass of Tempranillo, Pancho is also the founder of the Barcelona Wine Festival and Madwine. Whew! I haven’t even gotten into his professional tennis career and stint as a medical student, but I’ll leave that for him.

What Pancho is, is a man of action, of innovation, of vision, and beyond all else, of purpose. When a seed has been planted in his mind as a goal to be obtained, regardless of how far fetched it may be to a layman, he’ll achieve it. And part of the reason why I think he is so successful in his efforts, is his charisma, which you will see shortly in our interview.

What we hope you’ll take away from this interview is not only Pancho’s reasoning behind the conference, but his succinct and clear message that action must be taken now if we want to continue enjoying the wines we love today, tomorrow. Enjoy the interview!

PS: Slight sync problem with sound, but that’s what you get for a late night edit and no sleep!