The Global Tea Initiative for the Study of Tea Culture and Science plans its fifth annual colloquium on Thursday and Friday, Jan.16 and 17, at the UC Davis Conference Center. This year’s event, “The Great Debate: Discussion on Tea and Wine,” is co-organized with the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.
Panels will delve into the history and various attributes of tea and wine — considering site, terroir, appellations, sensory aspects, aesthetics, collecting and developing markets. In addition to UCD faculty, speakers will come from France, Germany, Indonesia and Japan, as well as Brown and Cornell universities.
Select lectures include:
* “Collecting Tea: A Conversation,” by James Norwood Pratt, author of “The Tea Lover’s Companion,” and Roy Fong, founder and proprietor of Sa+n Francisco’s Imperial Tea Court, the first traditional Chinese teahouse in America;
* “Collecting Wine,” by Jim Gordon, editor-at-large of Wine Business Monthly and contributing editor for Wine Enthusiast;
* “Site, Terroir, and Appellations – Tea,” by Fitrio Ashardiono, UCD visiting scholar and senior researcher at Asia-Japan Research Institute, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka Ibaraki Campus; and
* “Site, Terroir, and Appellations – Wine,” by Ron C. Runnebaum, UCD assistant professor of viticulture and enology.
Tea, as well as wine, will be the topics at the Global Tea Initiative for the Study of Tea Culture and Science’s fifth annual colloquium, set for Jan. 16 and 17.
UC Davis Global Tea Initiative/Courtesy photo
Special events include:
* An enactment of the Tang dynasty text, the “Debate between Tea and Alcohol” (Cha Jiu lun) by members of UC Davis’ theater and dance ensemble, at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 16;
* A panel on new tea and wine trends by industry professionals;
* A session on internships and careers with tea industry professionals and interns;
* An exhibition of tea and wine books and materials in UC Davis’s Shields Library; and
* “Old Traditions, New Trends: Tea and Wine in Japanese Art,” an exhibition in the UC Davis Conference Center.
Other activities include networking, company showcases and beverage samples. Attendees will be composed of students, scholars, members of the international tea and wine industries and the general public.
“As indicated in the charming Tang dynasty text, the ‘Debate between Tea and Alcohol’ with which we begin this year’s colloquium, tea and alcohol have long been recognized as ‘social beverages,’” said Katharine Burnett, Global Tea Initiative founder and associate professor of art history and expert in Chinese art and culture.
“Few, however, know that they have many other important similarities, such as site/terroir, chemistry profiles, sensory aspects and collecting. By collaborating with the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, this year’s annual GTI colloquium brings the two beverages together for stimulating discussions over two days.”
This year for the first time, the Global Tea Initiative is collaborating with the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science on the conference.
“The Robert Mondavi Institute is pleased to partner with the Global Tea Initiative in support of our joint commitment to elevate the profile of beverage-related research and expertise on the UC Davis campus, and to celebrate the significant roles both wine and tea play in cultures worldwide,” said Andrew Waterhouse, director of RMI.
A part of the College of Letters and Science, the Global Tea Initiative focuses on both the culture and the science of tea from its origins in Asia and spreading to almost every continent on the planet. Unique in the world, the initiative fosters research and collaboration across the sciences, humanities and social sciences campus-wide to explore the wide-ranging impact of tea on ceramics, gender roles, health practices and more all over the world.
The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science provides a prestigious forum to engage the public and scholars with the world-class wine, brewing and food science programs at UC Davis. The institute promotes the importance of the food- and beverage-related research being done by academics across campus with lectures, symposia and public outreach.
The conference is free and open to the public, but reservations are recommended at gti2020.eventbrite.com. For complete details on the initiative, visit globaltea.ucdavis.edu.
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