October 2024 Newsletter

Participate in Taste MI Invades GR, Exhibit at the 17th Annual Grand Rapids Wine Fest, Meet the newest MWC Sponsor, Submit your support for PA 232, Attend a webinar with ISU/UMN, Check out the MWC classifieds, Mark your calendars for the 2025 Eastern Winery Exposition, and More!

Taste Michigan Invades GR

The Michigan Wine Collaborative (MWC) is excited to announce that from November 21-23, Grand Rapids is set to be swept off its feet as Taste Michigan Invades GR, transforming the city into a haven for wine enthusiasts and gastronomic aficionados alike.

A huge piece of this event includes Michigan wine events spanning the 17^th Annual Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer, and Food Festival. MWC is planning to transfer the Michigan Governor’s Cup trophy for the first time as well hosting an official Michigan wine booth and offering a wine pairing dinner experience both featuring wines from the competition. We will also be highlighting The DREAM wine and fundraising for the Inclusion & Expansion Educational Fund.

If you are a winery interested in participating and showing your wines in Grand Rapids please REACH OUT TO US HERE! Spots are limited so please contact us ASAP.

If you are a retailer, restaurant, or hospitality location in Grand Rapids and would like to host a Michigan winery please REACH OUT TO US HERE!

Stay tuned for an official press release and event landing page on TasteMichigan.org.

Exhibit at the 17th Annual Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer, and Food Festival

Calling all Michigan Wineries! We are thrilled to announce that applications are now open for beverage companies to participate in the 17^th Annual Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer & Food Festival. Mark your calendars – the festival takes place November 21 – 23^rd, 2024 at DeVos Place in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids. The Festival Brochure is linked here for more information.

This is one of the region’s most anticipated food and beverage events and attracts a diverse crowd eager to discover and experience in the world of wine! The draw for the festival is not just the general public, but we invite thousands of industry professionals to the festival so that can discover your wines! We target large and small grocers, specialty stores, restauranteurs, and more, all coming to explore and see what is new. Additionally, this year, we are offering patrons a chance to order wine while they are at the Festival. The Amway Grand’s Wine Shop – Right Bank Wine Selections, is taking orders on site which broadens the impact that can be made for Michigan Wineries.

We can’t wait to welcome you and your innovative offerings at the Grand Rapids Wine, Beer & Food Festival! Feel free to reach out to Dawn Baker for additional information. Or call Dawn at 616-447-2860.

MWC Welcomes Our Newest Gold Sponsor, Prime Vintage

Prime Vintage Insurance Services, LLC is proud to announce it is entering the great state of Michigan to insure wineries and cideries. Prime Vintage is an insurance underwriting facility focused on the winery and cidery industry. We have a professional, knowledgeable, and ambitious underwriting and marketing team that caters to the insurance needs of your wineries and cideries. Prime Vintage has teamed up with a financially strong Am Best A+ rated Insurance Carrier who share the same philosophy as Prime Vintage: exceptional service, quality products, and experienced team members.

Prime Vintage has invested in resources to make sure that our programs are tailored to be able to meet the individual needs of each client. Our specialized programs can accommodate a diverse range of exposures, which separates us from our competitors in the marketplace.

Learn more about Prime Vintage services HERE!

Click Here to Reach Out to Prime Vintage!

WEBINAR: Dealcoholization for Low-Alcohol Wines

During this 90-minute webinar on October 22 nd 2024 at 3PM Central Time, you will hear from Clark Smith (WineSmith consulting), who will explain the basics and the techniques of dealcoholization using Reverse Osmosis and Spinning Cone, and how it can help with wine balance.

This will be followed by Dr. Kerry Wilkinson (The University of Adelaide, AU), who will present some of her research and expertise on the impact of dealcoholization on wine quality.

For further details or any questions, check out the Wine Industry Events in Dr. Watrelot’s website
https://faculty.sites.iastate.edu/watrelot/ or contact us at [email protected] and
[email protected].

Click Here to Register for the Webinar!

Final Push for PA 232 Signatures

Thank you to those who have signed and also considered the PA 232 proposal for wine grapes in Michigan. We were excited to see the amount of signatures gathered on the online petition and have submitted it for the next phase of the program.

While State of Michigan is in process validating our petition, we have some additional housekeeping…

Unfortunately, we cannot use ANY Anonymous signatures. Losing these signatures of support could be detrimental. There are approximately 20 outstanding. Losing these could put us below the required threshold of 25% of wine grape growers in Michigan for this initial step. If you are one of the anonymous supporters, you can still support anonymously by emailing Jamie Guardiola at the Office of Legal Affairs at MDARD <[email protected]>. She will accept this as confirmation if you can prove your link to grape growing. If you have yet to sign the petition we ask that you also reach out to Jamie ASAP.

If you wanted help us to continue to gather more support the petition for handwritten support can be found HERE!

MWC Classifieds

MWC offers a classifieds section on our website highlighting available wine jobs, equipment for sale, grapes for sale, and more. Check out what the industry is offering and promote your offerings too! MWC members are welcome to submit listings to be promoted on the website at any time. To submit a listing reach out to us at [email protected].

Click Here to View the Classifieds!

2025 Eastern Winery Exposition

Registration for the 2025 Eastern Winery Exposition opens November 6. MWC is a Supporting
Sponsor of EWE and as one of our member benefits, members receive a registration discount of 10%. That promo code will go out to MWC members this week. Feel free to reach out to us for the code at any time.

If you register before 1pm ET Friday, 11/8, you’ll receive an additional 10% First 48 Hours discount!

Now in its 13th year, EWE returns to Lancaster as the largest winery and vineyard trade show held east of the Pacific states. You’ll have the opportunity to meet with more than 200 exhibiting companies, attend workshop, conference sessions covering all aspects of the winery and vineyard business, network with 1,000+ other industry professionals, and attend the numerous social & networking events.

New in 2024: the License to Steal ® wine marketing conference is returning to EWE and will be presented as a Marketing track within the EWE Conference. That means all conference attendees can attend LTS Marketing sessions without needing to register for a separate pass and vice versa.

Click Here to Learn More & Register!

Shop Michigan Wine Gear

What better way to celebrate Michigan Wine Summer than stocking up on Michigan wine gear for the 2024 vintage?! We’ve got new designs and lots of styles to choose from!! Shop hoodies, hats, bags, shirts, and more. Make sure to pick up some items for gifts throughout the year!

Click Here to Shop!

Promote Your Summer Events with Vintage Michigan

We want to help promote your vineyard and winery events!! MWC members who are Vintage Michigan participants are welcomed to submit events at any time for promotion in the Vintage Michigan Event Calendar. These events are shared with the over 4000 Vintage Michigan members. Please submit via the form below or contact Emily with event information, links, graphics, and invitations.

Share Your Events for the Vintage Michigan Calendar Here!