SE Winery – Chris Southern
Winemaker & General Manager, Detroit Vineyards
A native of the suburbs of Detroit, Chris spent 11 years in Management at Trader Joe’s
Company before attending a baccalaureate winemaking program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in California. While in college, he was Assistant Winemaker for a small estate winery in Paso Robles. Post grad, he worked stints in Walla Walla Washington, New Zealand and Northern Michigan before returning to California. He has since managed filtration companies, sold barrels, managed winery operations and made wine for heralded brands in Edna Valley, Napa Valley, Santa Barbara County, Paso Robles and now Detroit.
[email protected]
NW Winery- Lee Lutes
Head Winemaker, Black Star Farms
As the head winemaker for Black Star Farms Lee, oversees winemaking operations for the two processing facilities on the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas. The home farm in Leelanau was created in 1998, with the addition on the Old Mission Peninsula in 2007, to separately specialize in red and white wine production.This separation of production makes Black Star Farms very unique in the industry, and Lee believes is significantly responsible for the general standard of quality that is their benchmark. Lee also directs the distillation program that produces European style fruit brandies and dessert wines, and further enhances their level of distinctiveness in the market.
Lee is a proud self-taught winemaker, to which he eventually came following a business degree at MSU, years of experience in the restaurant industry, and extensive international travel. He was an assistant winemaker at a small Piedmont winery prior to moving back to Michigan, where he was born and raised, and returned home at a time fortuitous with the growth and expansion of the industry. He is an avid supporter of all things Michigan, and proudly pursues the best in Pinot Noir and Riesling.
[email protected]
SE Winery – Bob Utter
Owner, Flying Otter Winery
Bob grew up in western Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Bob had a 35+ year career in Design Engineering, Engineering Management, and Engineering Consulting that took him to Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, and, as it turned out, too much time in France, where he fell in love with French wine and cheese. Bob followed his passion for wine and started a vineyard in 2005 near Adrian, Michigan, adding additional vines and varieties until 2016. The Flying Otter Vineyard focuses on cold hardy varieties that thrive in SE Michigan. Bob received formal training and education in viticulture and enology through VESTA, which led to the opening of The Flying Otter Winery in 2011, featuring estate grown and produced wines. [email protected]
SE Grower- Patrick Spensley
Winemaker/Vineyard Manager, Cherry Creek Cellars
Born and raised in SE Michigan, Patrick got his first experience working in the wine industry while abroad in New Zealand. Upon returning home he started at Cherry Creek Cellars in Brooklyn, MI in 2011 where he continued his formal education through VESTA and gained immeasurable hands on experience in the vineyard, cellar and tasting room. When the John & Denise Burtka, who started the winery in 2003, were ready to retire, Patrick took the reins in 2018. Together with his staff they have continued to build upon Cherry Creek’s foundation. Outside of work, Patrick enjoys spending time with his family exploring all that Michigan has to offer. They find it convenient that there are so many wineries in all corners of the State!
NW Winery – Bonnie Hardin
Sales and Marketing Coordinator, Mari Vineyard
Membership Committee Chair
Born and raised in Traverse City, MI, Bonnie started at Mari Vineyards in 2016 after a decade of working in events and communications. After helping Mari to open their Tasting Room as a server, Bonnie was promoted to Supervisor, then Assistant Manager, and then Sales & Marketing Coordinator. Her role includes managing Mari’s marketing, social media, in-house wine education, off-site events, and local wholesale. In 2021 she was awarded her WSET Level 2 with Distinction, and plans to go for her Level 3 soon. Bonnie serves on the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail Marketing Committee and is actively involved with the Traverse Wine Coast, Michigan Wine Collaborative, and Dirt to Glass Conference.
Bonnie graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities, including minors in French and Religious Studies. A study abroad program took her to Tours, France for a summer in 2014, and she returned to Michigan with a heightened interest in regional wine and food. After graduation, she worked in the restaurant industry and beer world before converting fully to wine.
In addition to her work at Mari Vineyards, Bonnie is a freelance website and graphics designer, production assistant, and social media manager.
[email protected]
NW Grape Grower – Tom Petzold
Ten Hands Vineyards
Tom Petzold and his wife established, own and operate Ten Hands Vineyards in Old Mission, facing the East Arm of the Grand Traverse Bay. They grow Riesling and Chardonnay for Bowers Harbor Vineyards, where Tom has worked in various capacities for over 12 years. Tom’s employment at the historic Pontchartrain Wine Cellars restaurant in Detroit (1970s) gave him his first exposure to the world of fine wine. His 17-years living in Europe, while studying & serving in the U.S Air Force, afforded him opportunities to deepen his love, knowledge and respect for fine wine. Tom and his wife, Claudine, have always found time to explore some of the oldest and most recognized wine regions in the world, and gladly embraced the European tradition of enjoying wine as a part of daily life. Committed to surviving the growing pains and opportunities of a young wine industry in Michigan, Tom enjoys working with the tens of partners in the vineyards and wine cellars in the NW region. He served six years (four as VP) on the Parallel 45 Wines and Vines LLC BOD, which is the region’s volunteer organization for research, education and collaboration among growers, MSU, MSU/Ext, winemakers and wine enthusiasts. Tom is a founding member of the MWC and has chaired the R/E Committee since its beginning. [email protected]
SW Winery- Andrew Backlin
Winemaker, Modales Winery
I grew up in Northern California, surrounded by winegrowing and winemaking. During high school, my first job was working on a bottling line after school. I always had an interest in foraging for wild plants and fermentation. It started with kombucha brewing, which then led to homebrewing, and eventually, I fell in love with winemaking.
After high school, I initially pursued theology in college, but upon graduation, I realized it wasn’t the path I wanted to continue on. Instead, I spent the next four years touring the country as a hardcore musician. However, the demands of the road eventually wore me out, and I knew I needed to find something else that would allow me to stay creative.
That’s when I landed a job as an enologist at Steele Wines in Lake County, CA. While working there, I enrolled in courses at Santa Rosa Junior College and the UC Davis extension for Enology. Under the mentorship of Jed Steele, an innovator in low-intervention winemaking, I worked my way up to the position of Assistant Winemaker at Steele Wines.
However, Michigan started calling my name when my wife decided to move there. I joined Lawton Ridge Winery as an assistant winemaker and truly fell in love with cool-climate winemaking and viticulture. Eventually, an opportunity arose to return to California and work at Duckhorn Wines. We packed up and made our way back.
During my time in California, I was approached by the owners of Modales with a proposition to move back and help start a new winery in the Fennville AVA. We seized the opportunity, returned to Michigan, and broke ground on Modales in 2018. Since then, we have been focused on innovation and approaching winemaking in Southwest Michigan from a fresh perspective.
At Modales, we have made significant changes to our winemaking practices. We have converted 90% of our processes to Native Fermentations, adopting a hands-off approach. Additionally, witnessing the decline of our vineyard soils, we decided to transition to organic viticulture. We are working towards certifying all of our vineyards in 2024.
I firmly believe that a “shades of green” revolution, as Dave Bos would say, is coming to Michigan. We strive to be an example of what regenerative farming can look like on a commercial scale.
[email protected]
SW Winery – Matt Moersch
Partner, Winemaker and Distiller
Tabor Hill Winery, Buchanan, Michigan
Round Barn Winery, Distillery & Brewery, Baroda, Michigan
Free Run Cellars, Berrien Springs, Michigan
Matt Moersch’s wine career began as picking grapes in his family’s vineyard and apprenticing with his father, and he continued his studies with world-renowned winemakers and growers in France, Germany, and Hungary. Currently, he is partner of The Round Barn Winery and co-founder of Free Run Cellars, crafting more than 40 different styles of dry and sweet wines; more than 100 unique beer recipes; and 20 different types of fortified wines and spirits, such as bourbon, rum, and vodka. While focused on French-style wines and spirits, Matt draws from the vast diversity of European winemaking and distillation traditions to develop the diverse, award-winning portfolio for which Round Barn and Free Run are celebrated. At both wineries, he oversees and collaborates with winemaker Brian Carlson, a 25-year veteran of California, Oregon, and Washington wineries. Spearheading the Great Lakes Sustainable Wine Alliance (GLSWA), a statewide sustainability initiative, Moersch is working to bring Round Barn’s sustainability mindset to a broader coalition of neighboring winegrowers. Modeled on Oregon’s premier LIVE certification, the GLSWA will encompass agricultural, cellar, and business practices; including key issues such as the elimination of herbicides from Michigan vineyards and aggressive water-reduction practices. “Good wine is made in the vineyard. So I always begin by understanding how I can better serve the grapes by honoring where they grow. When the vines are happy, the wine is, too.” All of Moersch’s properties are MAEAP-verified. Moersch has been a leading figure in building the nationally recognized reputation of Michigan’s famed Lake Michigan Shore AVA. [email protected]
SW Grape Grower – Sidney Finan
Owner, Stranger Wine Company
Sidney Finan is co-owner and farmer at Stranger Wine Company based in Buchanan, Michigan. She and her Fiance, Maxwell Eichberg, manage their 15 acre estate utilizing regenerative agricultural practices. Prior to moving to Michigan, Sidney worked as a farm hand on a small family owned organic farm in Illinois and fell in love with agriculture. From there she moved into viticulture and spent time working for a viticultural management group in Oregon where she gained exposure to hundreds of different vineyard sites and got to see first hand the impact that different management styles had on their environments. Her current regenerative agricultural practices are informed by both her experiences in the field and by her bachelors degrees in Biology and Environmental Science. While in Oregon she also worked as a winery intern and fell in love with the entire process of farming grapes and watching them turn into wine. After leaving Oregon she and her Fiance decided that there was no time like the present and founded Stranger Wine Company to put their farming and wine making skills to the test. It was a bold leap, but prior to working in agriculture Sidney had also spent several years working in Property Management in Chicago learning important business principles that allowed her to feel confident in founding her own company. 2021 was a challenging year, but all in all it was a tremendously successful growing year and Sidney is already looking forward to 2022.
[email protected]
Tourism – Ed Peabody
Director, HOUR Custom Publishing, HOUR Detroit/Michigan Wine Country Magazine
Ed Peabody is director of custom publishing for Hour Media in Troy, Michigan, and has 15 years of experience working in the Michigan wine industry to produce Michigan Wine Country magazine. Ed joined Hour in 2000 to spearhead the company’s diversification into content marketing and book publishing. Before that, he was VP-Group Publisher at Campbell-Ewald, where he worked on integrated marketing initiatives for a variety of multinational clients in the automotive, financial services, and information technology industries. A lifelong Michigander, Ed has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Honors English from Wayne State University in Detroit. [email protected]
Restaurant/Retail – Tamela Todd
Owner/Founder, T&T Sip n Read
Tamela C. Todd is a bestselling author, certified mental health coach, and entrepreneur, who is passionate about promoting mental health and self-care. Tamela also has a love for literature and wine. She plans to combine these passions by opening a Sip n Read Book Bar, where customers can enjoy a glass of Michigan wine while browsing through a selection of books. With her experience as a women-owned and minority-owned business owner, Tamela understands the challenges facing small businesses. She believes that promoting Michigan wines can help boost the local economy and provide a unique selling point for retailers. Tamela has honed her business sense with the completion of Retail Boot Camp at Tech Town Detroit, Build Basics at Build Institute, Scale Your Business Like a Boss at Operations School, and 3x Motor City Match awardee. She is also a member of Bamboo of Detroit and has been featured in various media outlets like Rolling Out Magazine, Metro Parent, She Leads Podcast, WDIV, and many others. Her vision for the Sip n Read Book Bar is to create a welcoming space where customers can relax and unwind, while also promoting local authors and literature.
Tamela’s entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas make her an asset to any team. With her experience in healthcare, mental health, and small business ownership, she has the skills and knowledge necessary to help retailers thrive.
[email protected]
Legal Seat- Mark Vanneste
Howard & Howard
Mark is a business attorney with a special focus on Wine Law and a partner with Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC, a full service business law firm. He and his partners come from an array of business backgrounds with diverse experiences and unique practice areas and take pride in assisting their clients with many legal areas impacting Michigan’s wine industry including licensing, regulatory compliance, real estate, land use, insurance, environmental concerns, and intellectual property, just to name a few.
Mark joined the Michigan Wine Collaborative in 2022, currently serves the Collaborative as the Honorary Legal Board Member and by providing general counsel services to the Collaborative. He also serves on the Membership Committee.
Executive Director- Emily Dockery
Owner/Founder winemi
Contributing Writer, Michigan Uncorked
Inclusion & Expansion Committee Co-Chair
Having experience in the vineyard, the cellar, and the retail sales floor has formed Emily into a Michigan wine marketing master. From this experience, her most accomplished consulting and marketing management achievement blossomed. As Executive Director for the Michigan Wine Collaborative, Emily has curated a network of like-minded Michigan wine enthusiasts, professionals, and artists as well as consistently securing Michigan wines on the global wine stage. She currently is the wine buyer for Harding’s in Richland, MI, and founder and owner of a small consulting/marketing firm, winemi.
Chuck Jackson, Jr
Wine Consultant, House of Pure Vin
Inclusion & Expansion Committee Chair
Visiting V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, California, started Chuck on his current path in the wine industry. After visiting V. Sattui, he came home to Michigan to start a winery tour business. The winery tour business led to an article in the Detroit News. That article led to joining the Detroit Chapter of the African American Wine Tasting Society (AAWTS). The AAWTS morphed into The Mahogany Tasters, which has led him to what he does today. After over 30 years of enjoying wine, Chuck is now a wine consultant, wine educator and wine mixologist. Stop into House of Pure Vin for the Chuck Jackson, Jr., wine experience.
[email protected]
Interesting in joining the board or a committee? Contact us for more information.
