March 2023 Newsletter
Get an update on The DREAM launch tour, Consider Dablon Vineyards for your bulk wine needs, Get some insight on Wine Law with our new monthly legal feature from Mark Vanneste of Howard & Howard, Get information on the upcoming WineAmerica nutrition labeling listening session, Register for the Commerce7 Tasting Room Best Practices Seminar, Get involved with the new Ink by Hudson Group shop at the Gerald R. Ford airport, and More! |
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MWC Celebrates a Successful DREAM Launch Tour!
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The Inclusion and Expansion Committee enjoyed a successful DREAM launch this past week. The DREAM launch tour began at GRNoir Wine & Jazz on Friday 2/24 traveled to House of Pure Vin on Saturday 2/25 and closed out the tour at an event at Michigan By The Bottle in Auburn Hills on Thursday 3/2. You can check out the highlights on the MWC Instagram titled “The DREAM” to induge in some content from the events. The wine was very well received and people loved both the product and its purpose.
If you would like to support the DREAM project you can find the wine currently at:
- Total Wine and More; Novi, Sterling Hgts, Ann Arbor, GR
- GRNoir Wine & Jazz; GR
- Vino Volo at DTW
- Colasanti’s Market; Highland
- The Blue Goat; Traverse City
It will be at all Meijer locations this coming spring.
If you have interest in directly supporting the IE Education Fund you can donate here: https://mwc.wildapricot.org/Donate/ and indicate that your kindness should be directed to the Inclusion and Expansion Education Fund.
We are very thankful for everyone who purchased bottles at the events but also to some generous donors who have donated directly to the Inclusion & Expansion Educational Fund. Those donors include:
Chris Cook
Anirudha Panditrao
Jocelyn Robbins
Thank you so much for your support of this project!! |
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Dablon Vineyards Bulk Wine Offerings
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MWC member, Dablon Vineyards, has bulk wine available! This is the first time Dablon has sought to sell its wines in bulk to the industry but after almost two years of the restaurants in Michigan and Illinois being closed due to the COVID lockdowns, they are getting tight on space for aging wines.
All of these wines are made from Dablon grapes grown in Southwest Michigan. The 2021 reds are still in French oak barrels and the 2022 wines are in stainless steel.
2021
Malbec $30 per gallon*
Merlot same
Syrah same
Cabernet Franc same
Cabernet Sauvignon same
Pinot Noir same
2022
Unoaked Chardonnay $24 per gallon*
Pinot Noir Rose $24 per gallon*
Muscat $18 per gallon*
Arandell $18 per gallon*
*depending on quantity
Winemaker Rudy Shafer can send you samples of any of these wines and answer any technical questions you may have about the grapes or wine production. You can reach him by email HERE or his telephone at (269) 876-0945. More information about Dablon Vineyards can be found at their website, www.dablon.com.
Do you have bulk wine, products, services, promotions, or news you would like shared via MWC newsletter? Contact Emily HERE for more information!
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Introducing Wine Law with Mark Vanneste
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MWC is excited to invite you to indulge in the March feature, Wine Law with Mark Vanneste. The full Wine Law articles will be available on our website. Tune in monthly as Mark covers a new topic relevant to the Michigan grape and wine industries. So without futher ado here’s a word from Mark on the much anticipated changes regarding Nutrition, Ingredient, and Allergen Information on Wine Labels…
“One of the last steps before a bottle of Michigan wine is opened and enjoyed by a fortunate consumer is labeling. Like everything involving alcohol, there are numerous Michigan and federal laws and regulations pertaining to wine labels and there are some nuances that can be confusing.
Any existing uncertainty or confusion will intensify. Perhaps as soon as late 2023, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is expected to issue its proposed rules requiring wine labels to have similar information to the ubiquitous “Nutrition Facts” panel people are accustomed to on most food products. This will be an “Alcohol Facts” panel…”
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Help Us Make Taste Michigan a Success
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| Taste Michigan continues to plan for its new campaign to be launched in April. The marketing committee will be bringing the Michigan wine industry in focus with several eye-catching and somewhat disruptive ads that will be seen on social and print. “We are so energized by this campaign and cant wait to share it with our colleagues and the world!” says Committee Chair Brian Lillie. Look for your opportunity to get your hands on Taste Michigan logo wear very soon! Stay tuned on Taste Michigan social media for updates!
Follow Us on Facebook
Follow Us on Instagram
Follow Us on Twitter
Follow Us on LinkedIn
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WineAmerica to Host a Listening Session Regarding Nutritional Labels for the Wine Industry
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| It is expected that the TTB will issue new rule making on nutritional labeling in the coming months. Every winery in the country will be affected by this decision. For that reason, the TTB looks to industry representatives to help inform their decision making—including WineAmerica.
WineAmerica wants to offer their members an opportunity to participate in this important conversation. On March 8th, they will be hosting a member-only virtual listening session on nutritional labeling. WineAmerica members are invited to join their government affairs team, review the survey’s key take-aways, and offer up ideas on next steps.
What: Virtual listening session on Nutritional Labeling
Where: Zoom
When: March 8th, 3pm EST
Who: WineAmerica’s government affairs team and WineAmerica membership
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Last Chance to Register for Commerce7’s Tasting Room Sales Best Practices Seminar
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| The Michigan Wine Collaborative is offering its members this exclusive online seminar, compliments of Commerce7 in partnership with WISE Academy and Community Benchmark!
Please join us at this virtual seminar for:
-A Community Benchmark overview to better understand your Tasting Room metrics such as AOV, conversion to purchase and club!
-WISE Academy’s seminar on Tasting Room Sales Best Practices: Top 10 Success Tips! Lesson learned from over 5,000 mystery shoppers on what works, what doesn’t work and how to leverage best practices to not only improve guest engagement but also for the Triple Score (getting sales, wine club signups, and data capture)
-Plus, Growing DTC Sales – Learn the tangible steps you can take to sell more and grow your average lifetime value, order value, and direct-to-consumer sales this year and beyond, presented by Commerce7.
March 21st Schedule:
11am-11:30am – Community Benchmark
11:30am-11:55am – WISE Academy
11:55am-12:05pm – Break (warm up your lunch and come back)
12:05pm-12:30pm – WISE Academy
12:30pm-1:10pm – Commerce7
1:10pm-1:15pm – Final Q&A
*We are asking MWC members to access registration information through the MWC member portal on Wild Apricot. If you would like registration information sent to you via email reach out to us HERE! |
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Get Involved with the MWC and Hudson Group Partnership at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport!
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| The Hudson Group operates over 1,000 stores in airports, commuter hubs, landmarks and tourist locations across North America. Ink by Hudson is a popular stop for travelers, featuring a curated collection of bestsellers, small press titles, classics, prizewinners, local favorites, and a unique selection of toys, stationery, gifts, travel essentials and indulgences. And now they are adding Michigan wine to the mix thanks to a new partnership with Michigan Wine Collaborative! Included in the new store called Ink by Hudson is a self-serve wine bar, offering several wine selections for guests to choose from and pour themselves.
The most exciting part of this partnership is that Ink will be stocking Michigan Wine Collaborative member winery products. The only qualifications to get on the list of vendors is to have the ability to keg wines, have a relationship with a distributor servicing the Grand Rapids area, and have an active Michigan Wine Collaborative membership. Please fill out the form below to be added to the official list which will be communicated to the Hudson Group for them to review and reach out about stocking wines from the submitting wineries.
Reach out to Emily at [email protected] with any questions. |
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Supporting Black Wine Professionals in the Michigan Wine Industry…and Beyond!
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Wine Enthusiast recently published a feature story titled, “What It’s Really Like to Be a Black Wine Professional” written by Tiffany Enzinwa Onyejiaka. This story detailed the struggles for people of Color to break through the exclusive wine industry, a historical account of the systemic barriers, and how Black wine professionals are overcoming them to make space for themselves in a historically and overwhelmingly white and male dominated industry. In recent years organizations, scholarships, and other opportunities are becoming more available throughout the industry to allow an expansion of the wine industry to include professionals of color to participate and but also and more importantly, to thrive.
“Systematically speaking, we never really exist in a position to have the right resources and connections, the right path to follow,” she says. “Trying to get those connections and that network has been a challenge because I don’t come from a corporate wine background.” -Marlo Richardson, founder of Braymar Wines in California
Richardson’s sentiment is a huge priority for the MWC. We are working hard to create safe and secure spaces for historically excluded and underrepresented populations to thrive in the Michigan wine industry through the establishment of the MWC Inclusion and Expansion Committee and Educational Fund, by providing resources to introduce and understand the Michigan grape and wine industries such as the MWC Talent Pipeline, and to offer networking and mentorship opportunities through MWC membership which can help simplify the process of making and maintaining quality connections for aspiring and established wine professionals and to provide additional support where we can.
Additionally, the MWC is working to establish a Black Wine Professionals Database to mobilize and empower those looking to connect with those more established in the Michigan grape and wine industries as well as to connect with others just beginning their journey into Michigan wine. We still have plenty of work to do…but we are confident with our Inclusion & Expansion Committee team and the support from our members and the wider wine industry we can make major strides towards creating a bigger, better, stronger, more inclusive Michigan grape and wine industry. It’s a all hands on deck moment so we are encouraging consideration of MWC sponsorship opportunities, memberships, and donations for our projects and initiatives. Help us make that happen by sharing our work in your circles through word of mouth, social media shares, forwarding our newsletters, and ambassadorship for our organization. Thank you for your support as we work to create a better Michigan grape and wine industry through collaboration. |
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There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the Michigan Wine Collaborative! The momentum is palpable, as is evidenced by our 16% growth in membership (welcoming 25 new members) and 13% growth in sponsorships (welcoming 6 new sponsors) over the last two months! In February, the MWC held The Dream Inclusion/Expansion collaboration wine launch, including release parties at GRNoir in Grand Rapids, House of Pure Vin in Detroit, and Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room-Auburn Hills. In just the last 30 days, we have received $520 in donations to the MWC Inclusion/Expansion scholarship fund outside of The Dream wine sales but thanks to the visibility of this campaign. We released the competition dates for the first annual Michigan Governor’s Cup competition/evaluation with Beverage Testing Institute and wine, cider, and mead entries have come flooding in. We are finalizing the date and venue information for the Governor’s Cup gala/awards celebration and subsequent public tasting in Lansing, Michigan and we will start the sale of early bird tickets to the public shortly; they will definitely want the opportunity to taste many of the winning wines and share in the anticipation of the big reveal of the Governor’s Cup winner. In the next month or so we will be gearing up for the official Taste Michigan branding campaign launch and associated media events, plus Michigan Wine Month in May and Governor Whitmer’s proclamation extolling all of the tourism, jobs and economic impact that our industry brings to our state. Thank YOU for your participation in Michigan’s trajectory in the world of wine and on our consumers’ minds and palates, and if you’re not involved yet, what are you waiting for? Don’t let all of these important Michigan wine milestones and seriously fun moments pass you by. Cheers!
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Michigan Wine in the News
Check out notable mentions in the media featuring Michigan Wine Collaborative members and promoting the Michigan Wine Industry.
Click Here to Read the News!
*Did we miss an important Michigan wine news story? E-mail us HERE! |
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The Michigan Wine Collaborative appreciates support from the following Sponsors and Supplier/Vendor Members:
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| 2022 MWC Sponsors & Donors |
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| 2022 MWC Suppliers & Vendors |
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Are you interested in promotional opportunities for your business? Check out our partnership opportunities HERE!
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