Thank you to all who joined us in Kalamazoo. Our friends at Michigan By The Bottle were on the scene and created a podcast about the conference.

Listen to the MBTB Conference Podcast

Thanks MBTB!

Those of you who completed feedback surveys for your individual sessions are entered into a drawing to win a $100 Meijer gift card. There is also an online survey that covers the overall conference, including food and social events. Complete that survey by March 15 to get another shot at winning!

Start the survey

A very special thanks to the members of our Conference Planning Committee - we could not organize this conference without you. Planning Committee members are: Nancie Oxley, St. Julian; Kellie Fox, The Fox Barn Market and Winery; Tom Petzold, 10 Hands Vineyard; Brian Lillie, Chateau Chantal; Robin Usborne, East of Eden Vineyards; Joanne Davidhizar, MSU Extension; Paolo Sabbatini, MSU; Lorri Schreiber, Traverse Wine Coast; and Aubrey Knapp, Meeting Coordinators Inc. 

Join us on Thursday, May 24 to share samples of your wine and hard cider in the Detroit's iconic Eastern Market. We will welcome ticketed, consumer guests from 5-8:30, following an exclusive trade and media tasting from 2-4pm.

The Michigan Wine & Cider Festival is a first-year event, replacing the Detroit Michigan Wine Showcase. In addition to increased participation from wineries, we are planning for increased trade, media and consumer attendance. We'd like to thank Eastern Market for their partnership on this exciting new event!

An email has been sent to all winery primary contacts with details and a participation form, which is due by April 6 to secure a table. Please reserve your spot and direct any questions to Jenelle, jagminj@michigan.gov or 517-284-5790.

Michigan wineries: Don't miss this opportunity to showcase your Rieslings!

Renowned wine makers, journalists and sommeliers from around the world will once again converge in Traverse City to connect with each other, learn and explore the Best White Wine on Earth at the fourth annual City of Riesling. This global wine event brings together an international set of industry rock stars to experience hundreds of the finest examples of Riesling from every major wine-producing region in the world.

Event organizers partner with the wine world to educate the local community about the economic and environmental impact of the wine industry, in a one-of-kind series of tasting events and panel discussions.

Contact Amanda Danielson or Sean O'Keefe for additional information or to participate in this important industry event

For the past three years, WineAmerica has worked with a broad coalition of other beverage commodity trade associations to secure passage of a two-year version of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA), which occurred in late 2017. WineAmerica's government affairs team partnered closely with wine, beer and spirits counterparts to secure passage of this landmark piece of legislation.

The new tax credits are due to expire on December 31, 2019. WineAmerica and beverage trade association partners have begun advocating for a longer extension and/or permanence of the new credits. To help in advocacy, WineAmerica needs to hear directly from the wine industry about the benefits of excise tax reform. Congress needs to hear the story of how our industry benefits from the long overdue reform of federal alcohol excise taxes.

How are you going to reinvest in your business and communities? Please take this short five-question survey to let them know your plans for the future of your business. They are especially interested in specific testimonials that they can take to Members of Congress when they are up on the Hill working this issue. 

The survey can be found here: http://wineamerica.org/taxsurvey. It will remain open until March 31.

Effective March 3, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Jamie Clover Adams resigned. She accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an advisor in the office of the secretary.

Governor Rick Snyder appointed Gordon Wenk, MDARD's Chief Deputy Director, to replace Clover Adams. Many of you know Gordon through his role as Chair of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council - a role he will continue in his new position.

The Council has partnered with Michigan State University Extension to produce videos, in a webinar format, that will help growers implement research projects funded by the Council. Videos are currently available for projects funded in 2015 and 2016.

The videos and PDFs of the 2016 final reports can be accessed at michiganwines.com. Topics include: Biology and Management of Grape Mealybug; Michigan Vineyard IPM Extension Program; Control and Management of Sour Rot and Volatile Acidity in Vinifera Grapes Grown in Michigan; Pilot Measurement of Water Use in Wineries.

Michigan-based food and agriculture companies that currently export or are preparing to export their products now have access to a new market analysis tool that will provide insights into export opportunities around the world.

In partnership with Euromonitor International, the world's leading independent provider of strategic market research, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's International Marketing Program has created MIAgExport.com, which provides updated export opportunity analysis reports and a new interactive market tracker. These tools were designed to help companies develop an export strategy by identifying key and emerging export markets, key trends in the trade landscape, historical and forecasted consumption data, and consumer trends in countries around the world.

Export intel is available for the following Michigan industries and segments: Sweet & Savory Foods, Alcoholic Beverages (beer, hard cider/perry and spirits), Dairy Products, Energy/Breakfast Bars, Apples, Dry Beans, Blueberries, Honey, Tart Cherries, Wine, Potatoes, Pickled Products, Popcorn, and Onions.

For more information on exporting food and agriculture products, contact the International Marketing Program at 517-284-5738 or zmitkoj@michigan.gov.

TTB participates in industry conferences and seminars to provide training or relevant TTB-related information. They also hold their own training events, such as webinars or seminars, and post presentations on their TTB Presentations page.

Presentations were recently added from the Cider Compliance Seminar at CiderCON 2018, and for TTB-hosted webinars on domestic formula requirements for malt beverages, distilled spirits and wine.

Bookmark the TTB Presentations page and use it as a resource when you have questions about TTB requirements on a variety of topics.

The Northern Grapes Webinar Series has returned with a series of webinars scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month. This series of monthly, one-hour webinars will cover special topics on growing, producing, and marketing wines made from cold-hardy Northern winegrape cultivars. Webinars will feature speakers from the Northeast and Midwest sharing their expertise and recent research on topics essential to cold-climate growers, winemakers, and winery owners.

Register for each webinar individually. Subscribe to receive Northern Grapes Project updates and registration links. Previously recorded webinars are available online at northerngrapesproject.org.

Upcoming webinars:

April 10
Implementing NEWA Weather and Pest Model Information into a Vineyard IPM Strategy
Tim Weigle and Dan Olmstead, NYS IPM program, Cornelll University

May 8
SO2 and You: Understanding the When, Why and How of SO2 Management in Your Winery
Demi Perry, Cornell Enology Extension Laboratory