By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 2010 Michigan Grape and Wine Conference is being held this week, Feb. 24-26.

Speakers and presenters will include a number of well-known stars from the wine industry, including Gordon Specht of Lallemand, Inc, Torey Arvik of Jackson Family Enterprises, and Bill Nelson, president of Wine America.

On Thursday afternoon, authors Sharon Kegerreis and Lorri Hathaway will present “History of the Michigan Wine Industry,” a guide through the misty yesteryears of an industry in Michigan that is better known for its juices than wines. But maybe all of that is changing.

“They actually traveled around to all the wineries and were really enthusiastic about the industry,” said Karel Bush of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council.

The two are also the authors of From the Vine: Exploring Michigan Wineries, a book that explores what’s going on in the industry up to the present day. The conference gets started on Wednesday morning with a presentation by Bill Nelson on shipping regulations as well as a glimpse into future legislative actions that could affect the industry.

After that there is a new grower and winery workshop, for people new to the industry and those who are thinking of getting into the wine business in Michigan. Although there is a charge of $100 to attend the educational sessions at the conference, there is no charge for this particular workshop. On Wednesday afternoon there will be a number of concurrent sessions.

Between 1:15-3:15 p.m. the following sessions will take place: “Winemaking 1,” with moderator Paul Jenkins of Michigan State University, “Alcohol Fermentation Management,” with Gordon Specht and “Wine Spoilage Testing and Its Costs,” with Torey Arvik. A wine trail roundtable and wine tasting event will also take place in the afternoon, along with a reception.

On Thursday morning there will be more concurrent sessions and a roundtable discussion with Specht and Arvik. At noon, Michigan Dept. of Agriculture (MDA) Director Don Koivisto will host a luncheon. In the afternoon, Linda Jones of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council will present a Council report. Later in the afternoon there will be more concurrent sessions on various topics of interest. Wayne Whitman, the MDA’s Right to Farm manager, will give a presentation explaining the “Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices for Farm Markets,” which includes wine tasting rooms.

On Friday morning there will be a presentation on red wine varieties in cool climate regions as well as presentations on social media and trade shows.

“It’s quite a skill to be able to grow red wine grapes to maturity in Michigan,” Bush said. “The initial start-up costs for growing wine grapes are substantial, but the return is greater (than for other crops), in time. There’s a lot of maintenance in the first couple of years and you don’t get any crop for 3-4 years. It will pay off if they’ve done things well.

“The conference is a great place for networking,” Bush added. “About two-thirds of the wineries come to this conference.”
Anyone wanting more information about the conference can go online at, www.michiganwines.com