Please reach out to MWC Vice President and Communications & Marketing Chair, Brian Lillie, with any questions.

This year’s lineup of speakers includes Doug Frost, Dr. Kevin Pogue, Dr. Bruno Basso, Madeline Triffon, Amanda Danielson, Diego Barison, Christie Lee Apple, and Dr. Paolo Sabbatini. There will also be instructive Riesling and Pinot Noir wine tasting panels that will demonstrate the impact of soil and farming on a finished wine through the lens of two well-known varieties. The wine will be sourced from well-known growing regions for these grapes.

Reach out to Emily with any questions.

Vinoshipper is playing a dangerous game right now. The company implies that wineries may ship to any state under their licensing. This is proving NOT TRUE in state courts. If you are shipping to different states across the union be sure to have a permit for each state you have DTC business.

I’ve felt like our Michigan wine community has been somewhat fractured lately and the isolation that came with COVID certainly didn’t help. In my travels and communications, I’ve been hearing a lot of “us versus them” talk, (northwest vs. southwest, vinifera vs. hybrid, etc.). We are one state with a lot of unique areas with different talents, but we are still one state. We have so much more in common than we have differences. At the core of this industry, we all want to bring delicious Michigan wine to more consumers, whether it be through our grape growing methods and research, winemaking techniques and continuous improvement, and connections with on- and off-premise clients and consumers. In addition to research, sustainability, inclusion/expansion, and marketing efforts, the Michigan Wine Collaborative is focusing on several events this year at which we can reconnect as an industry: the HOUR Detroit Food + Wine Show; a trade/press event at which participating members can all pour their wines for the media and retail/wholesale/somm attendees; an intimate VIP tasting for consumers looking for a smaller Michigan wine experience than a festival. We have a few sponsorship opportunities where we can also meet face to face, such as at the Dirt To Glass Conference in August, which has the potential to bring the industry together in a conference-type setting that has been missing since the days of the MGWIC. I highly encourage you to participate in at least one of these face-to-face events to take advantage of not only the opportunity to introduce your wines to new customers, but to break bread with fellow industry colleagues you may not have seen in over a year. Let’s make it a priority to put the “unity” back in our wine community. (Cheesy, but true.)