MSU TRAINS NEXT GEN WINEMAKERS

By Jessica Zimmer

For more than 70 years, Michigan State University professors and staff have helped to shape the Michigan wine industry. The the numerous MSU alumni working as winemakers and viticulture specialists in AVAs throughout the state is a testament to the continued collaboration.

“MSU heads up the most established of viticulture training programs for the state. The Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center in Traverse City and the Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center serve a vital purpose to growers, connecting them with the latest research and data to improve their vine understanding, health, and quality. In addition, these centers hold events that connect growers with one another, professors, and wine enthusiasts,” said Emily Dockery, executive director of the Michigan Wine Collaborative.

MSU’s role was set primarily by its designation as a landgrant university, an institution of higher learning that focuses on practical fields like agriculture and engineering. MSU became and remains the land-grant university for Michigan.

In 1914, the Smith-Lever Act started extension programs in every county across the country. Today, MSU’s extension agriculture programs for fruits and nuts cover juice and wine grapes. The effort to assist wine grape growers owes a debt to the late Dr. Stanley Howell, professor emeritus of horticulture at MSU. Howell established the university’s viticulture and enology program in the 1970s. His passion was determining which varieties grow best in Michigan’s climate and honing cultivation practices to help them thrive.

The current projects of Dr. Paolo Sabbatini, professor of horticulture at MSU, focus on the function of grapevines.

be done to encourage them to produce quality fruit. One of the ways to do this is by examining impacts of abiotic stress, defined as how non-living factors like soil quality affect the ways that grape vines grow.

Sabbatini’s recent projects include one funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). NIFA is a federal agency within the USDA. For the past three years, Sabbatini has conducted the project in collaboration with Dr. Ilce Medina, assistant professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at MSU.

The two professors are engaging in research at experimental vineyards owned by Brys Estate Vineyard and Winery in Traverse City. The data are revealing how grape vines distribute the products of photosynthesis to different organs and tissues in the plants.

Effects Of Climate Change

Sabbatini has found that climate change has led to more extreme weather events in Michigan, negatively affecting plants’ productivity.

“Erratic weather events trigger abiotic stress responses. In response, the plant modifies how it grows. Its changes negatively impact fruit quality at harvest. This reduces the quality of the wine,” said Sabbatini.

Sabbatini said his ultimate goal is to solve problems that affect the entire plant. Then he can make suggestions to optimize vine productivity and quality.

Another side project that Sabbatini started several years ago temperatures. introduced the minor in 2013. The minor program carries on the tradition of Dr. Kris Berglund, professor emeritus of chemical engineering and food science at MSU. He’s considered the godfather of Michigan’s distilling industry,” said Shriner.

“We’re also working on how to manipulate vines during the very short growing season from May through October. We want to make pruning techniques more efficient and specific for our climate, considering the labor costs,” said Sabbatini.

Since Michigan’s weather patterns shift due to climate change, MSU is testing a wide variety of wine grapes.

“Every variety has different clones that respond differently to climate change and viticultural practices. We’re trying to understand which variety and rootstock combinations thrive better in Michigan’s unique soils,” said Sabbatini.

Dr. Nicole Shriner, a teaching specialist in MSU’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, mentors students on the winemaking side. Shriner teaches MSU’s core classes for the minor in beverage science and technology. She also directs the fermented beverage analysis lab at MSU.

When Shriner came to teach at MSU, she further developed the minor, which had initially been established by Dr. Berglund and Dr. Dave Miller. Miller, an MSU graduate who earned a M.S. in viticulture under Dr. Howell, studied the influence of rootstock on grapevine cold hardiness. Miller is now the owner of White Pine Winery in St. Joseph, Michigan.

“Miller is a former president of the Michigan Wine Collaborative and is aware of what the students need to learn. That’s part of the reason students get such hands-on experience at MSU. They even take home a bottle of wine that they made,” said Shriner.

Between 30 and 50 students earn a minor in beverage science and technology every year.

“The students have to be at least 21 to take classes in this

Continued on next page program. Between 25 and 35 percent want to go into the alcoholic beverage business. The rest go on to become informed wine enthusiasts. We need a lot more of those to increase the popularity of Michigan wines,” said Shriner.

Shriner is currently talking with Michigan wineries about how to structure internships.

“The time that students could really learn from hands-on experience is late summer and fall, during crush and harvest. That’s just when they’re headed back to school. We’re looking to set up a co-op type of experience. This would involve training at the winery full-time in fall. The students would not take any other classes,” said Shriner.

Thomas Orginski, a 2017 MSU graduate and the assistant winemaker at Leelanau Cellars in Omena, said he would like to start an internship program between Leelanau Wine Cellars and MSU that would combine time in the cellar, lab work, and a harvest.

“I think it would be great for MSU students to learn more about the hands on work it takes to make wine. That way they could have a well-rounded understanding of the winemaking process. I’d like to see MSU interns start in June and get to know the cellar well. That would leave them free to help with the harvest in October, becoming a full-on member of the team,” said Orginski.

Esmaeil Nasrollahiazar is the Michigan State University Extension viticulture educator for Northwest Michigan. He said extension centers reach many growers and winemakers who did not attend MSU.

“The extension centers are a bridge to transfer the knowledge that we gain quickly and easily, through trusted partnerships and well-known events like the 2023 Northwest Michigan Orchard and Vineyard Show, which we held in mid-January. We need two research centers (The Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center in Traverse City and the Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center in

Benton Harbor) because northwest and southwest Michigan erent growing environments with unique challenges,” said Nasrollahiazar.

About $20,000 from the Michigan Craft Beverage Council and $40,000 from Project GREEEN is targeted specifically for MSU Extension’s research on cold hardy varieties. Project GREEEN is Michigan’s plant agriculture initiative that is a joint e ff ort between plant-based commodity groups and businesses and MSU AgBioResearch, MSU Extension, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

“I joined MSU Extension in July 2020. I’m currently learning how to improve outreach programs and strengthen partnerships with grape growers who are members of collaboratives like P45,” said Nasrollahiazar.

In his first two months after MSU changed its travel policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nasrollahiazar drove over 4,000 miles on trips throughout the state. He visited many growers and winemakers in person.

“I saw their varieties and how their grapes were doing. I

Continued on next page learned how to organize hybrid meetings and thereby doubled the attendance for Extension center programs. I invite growers and winemakers to email me. It’s hard to visit every winery, especially in fall and winter,” he said.

In September 2022, Nasrollahiazar sent out a survey to approximately 92 growers and winemakers. One thing he learned from it was that approximately 41 percent of growers and winemakers earned degrees or have work experience in fields other than enology and viticulture.

“For example, we have winemakers who retired from the auto industry. That showed me more than half of professionals in wine rely on MSU Extension for information and training,” said Nasrollahiazar.

Brian Hosmer, who completed graduate work in enology and viticulture at MSU in 2006, is the winemaker for Chateau Chantal Winery and Inn in Traverse City. Hosmer is grateful that the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center provides “us with a place to bring in speakers, from around the country and around the world, to meet and learn together.”

“The challenges of inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain disruptions reduce the time and opportunities for growers to communicate. MSU extensions help bring those opportunities back, with events, in-person educational series, and online Zoom meetings,” said Hosmer.

Dockery said MSU’s administration of the Michigan 4-H program for youth will become critical in the next decade. She said the Michigan Wine Collaborative is working with MSU to develop a steady source of labor for the grape and wine industries.

“In addition, MSU’s outreach through 4-H chapters introduces Michigan youths to MSU itself. High school students then see college, particularly viticulture programs at MSU, as an option,” said Dockery.

Extension is currently developing a viticulture curriculum for 4-H clubs.

“MSU Extension staff, the Michigan Wine Collaborative, and wine industry professionals are writing the curriculum together. We hope 4-H clubs can partner with vineyards so teens can practice growing and pruning on-site,” said Sandborn.

In 2019, MSU Extension received a $20,000 grant from Project GREEEN for the curriculum.

“We got the money three years ago, but could not start up the clubs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were granted an extension. In spring 2023, we may start some of the first chapters. One is likely to be with Pingree Farms in Detroit,” said Sandborn.

Sandborn said the year-round curriculum will cover grape growing, grape chemistry, canopy management, pest control, and soil quality.

“Every lesson has a career focus. There are lessons for each season. Youth will spend time in the vineyard throughout the year to see what is happening during all the seasons. There are activities specific to the time of year, during the growing season and during dormancy in the vines,” said Sandborn.

Sandborn added the 4-H clubs will also visit wineries throughout their region. This will familiarize students with wine industry norms. It will also help them see professionals in action.

“We’re proud to be part of creating a talent pipeline. We want young people to see they have chances to contribute, in the vineyard, in the cellar, in the marketing department, and in the executive office,” said Sandborn.