Michigan Wine Symposium- February 27th
Parallel 45 Vines and Wines and The Michigan Wine Symposium Committee, Tony Jacobson, Maddie Vint, Kevin Uhl, and Haley Hoogenraad are delighted to announce our new Michigan Wine Symposium. We are expanding the Sparkling Wine Symposium to include red and white wines grown and produced in Michigan. Our expanded series offers a unique opportunity to have your wine evaluated and discussed by your peers to help elevate the quality of wine we are producing across Michigan.
Our first event (Feb. 27) will be focused on Sparkling wine. We will discuss research, a perspective from an important industry voice (outside of production), as well as a chance to reconnect and network with fellow sparkling winemakers from across Michigan. This symposium will take place on February 27, 2026 at Lobdell’s (715 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49686) in downtown Traverse City.
Each tasting will include:
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Technical Tasting hosted again by Thomas Houseman of Radiant Sparkling Company, Oregon, Joe Nielson of Ram’s Gate in California, Dan Wampflor of Abeja in Washington.
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Research Discussion
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Candid and focused technical discussion on your wine
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Lunch made by NMC’s teaching culinary team
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Industry Perspective
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Networking Opportunities for connecting with fellow professionals.
Tickets are $75 per person for each event individually. If you plan to attend all three events we are offering a single ticket for $180 to cover all three, a $45 savings.
One submission per winery, but if you have two that are worth exploring because of some experimentation or a learning opportunity, please let us know and we’ll consider it. We are dropping all lab samples and tasting samples at three locations, Caravin, Black Star Farms on Old Mission, and Fenn Valley. Fenn Valley has graciously offered to run all analysis for our event. Traverse area producers, if your wine isn’t at the dropoff locations by 2:00pm on Feb 10 it will be your responsibility to ship samples to Fenn Valley. We’ll require 4 bottles for the event. (1 sample 3 for tasting)
For people who want to stay close to the event, we have secured a block of rooms at the Sierra Hotel for $90/night call for reservations.
Feel free to contact Tony directly with questions or additional information, at Tony@EnoCraft.com.
Here are the important details
February 27 Sparkling Wine – Any base wine used for sparkling
February 10 – ALL Samples due at Dropoff Locations
February 11 – ALL Samples due at Fenn Valley
February 11 – Tech Sheets due
February 27, 2026 Registration begins at 8:00 event at 9:00am – 5:00pm
April, 16 2026 White Wine – Sauvignon Blanc and Aromatic Whites
April 7 – ALL Samples due at Dropoff Locations
April 8 – ALL Samples due at Fenn Valley
April 8 – Tech Sheets due
April 16, 2026 Registration begins at 8:00 event at 9:00am – 5:00pm
May, 20 2026 Red Wine – Bordeaux Varieties
May 5- ALL Samples due at Dropoff Locations
May 6 – ALL Samples due at Fenn Valley
May 6 – Tech Sheets due
May 20, 2026 Registration begins at 8:00 event at 9:00am – 5:00pm