Intent on strengthening the wine-making expertise of both the United States and France, a group of West Coast vintners, winemakers and wine scientists recently visited Burgundy, France, for a landmark symposium that promises to yield future academic and industrial exchanges. "This was the first time for such a comprehensive exchange with Burgundy, this region that for so long has been considered the Camelot of wine-making," says Christian Butzke, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist, who initiated the first Joint Burgundy-California-Oregon Winemaking Symposium. "This is part of an effort to improve the global expertise of our California winemakers and our Davis and Oregon students." The delegation, composed of wine scientists from UC Davis and Oregon State University, as well as some of the premier winemakers and vintners from California and Oregon, participated in a three-day symposium and visited world-famous wineries and vineyards in Chablis, the Cote-d'Or and Beaujolais. The visitors also attended tastings of the complete offerings of 1997 wines from the Burgundy region and were honored guests at the Sitevi, the world's largest vinicultural equipment show, held in Montpellier, France. "This was an opportunity for a scientific, professional and cultural exchange," Butzke says. "It helps us understand not only what techniques winemakers in Burgundy are using, but also why they are using those techniques." Butzke and colleagues at UC Davis are already making plans to host winemakers and wine scientists from Burgundy in February 1998 and are hopeful that the newly forged relationships will open opportunities for students and scientists from both countries to study and conduct research abroad.