Feature: Michigan Wine Industry Improves with MSU Help

            If you had bought a bottle of Michigan wine when Stan Howell came to MSU in 1969, chances are it would not be in your cellar today. The wine would have probably been cold duck, muscatel, port or some other sweet dessert wine made from native Niagara, Delaware or Concord grapes. And, in all likelihood, it was not exceptionally good. Today, your choices of Michigan wines are almost overwhelming–sweet and dry styles, still and sparkling wines, port and sherry, eau-de-vie and non-grape wines such as cherry and raspberry. Today’s wines are made from hybrid grape varieties of Vidal blanc, Seyval, Vignoles, Chambourcin, Chancellor and Marechal Foch, or vinifera vines such as Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Merlot and Cabernet Franc–and they produce subtle and complex wines that compare favorably with wines from California and around the world, and that earn high marks at regional, national and international competitions.

            Michigan wines have matured nicely over the past 30 years. A major contributor to the improvement of Michigan wines has been Dr. G. Stanley Howell, MSU professor of horticulture, who began his viticulture research at MSU in 1970. Howell oversees Spartan Cellars, MSU’s pilot winery, built in 1988. Together with his assistant, Dave Stocking, Howell conducts research to improve both grape cultivation and wine production practices in Michigan. His research tracks the varieties that grow best in Michigan’s climate and the cultivation practices that help them succeed.

             Each year, Spartan Cellars makes 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of about 140 wines. Though you won’t find them for sale in your local grocer’s, you will find great Michigan wines that have benefited from the wine research conducted at MSU. “When I make recommendations to growers, I can only vouch for grapes that I’ve actually grown successfully myself,” Howell says. “You have to begin with high quality grapes to make high quality wines.”

            Currently, Michigan has 25 wineries and eight additional tasting rooms located around the state. They are concentrated in four federally approved American viticultural areas: the Lake Michigan shore, Fennville, the Old Mission Peninsula and the Leelanau Peninsula. Grapevines flourish in these areas where cool lake-effect winds from Lake Michigan prevent early budding of the vines in the spring–while frost is still a danger–and warm breezes from the lake in the fall extend the growing season. Michigan’s cool climate, much like that of the Alsace region of France and Germany, produces acidic-style wines with a crisp, full-bodied character. The glacier-carved terrain of western Michigan also offers sloping hills and porous soil low in organic matter–a combination in which grapes thrive. Still, growing high quality grapes in Michigan remains a tricky proposition. “It’s difficult to grow wine grapes in Michigan,” Howell notes. “We have winter injury and a short growing season. We have different insect pests and diseases than other growing areas. We have to be more careful about crop control and how and when we prune.”

            Because of the different approach needed in managing Michigan vineyards, Howell is enthusiastic about a new two-year program in viticulture and enology being introduced at MSU in the fall of 2001. “Too frequently, people from outside Michigan come here, then turn around and go home frustrated after a year or two because of the difficulties,” he says. “The industry needs people educated to meet the challenges of growing grapes and making wines in Michigan.”

            Howell is an internationally respected expert whose dedication to the industry has taken him around the world to promote research in cold-climate grapes. In 1990, he spent six months at a research station near Zurich, Switzerland. In 1998, he was the keynote speaker at a conference of the New Zealand Grape and Wine Society. In June 1999, he was honorary research lecturer at the national meeting of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, the largest society for grape and wine research in the world. For the past three winters, he has traveled to Lincoln University in Canterbury, New Zealand, to conduct research on grapevine yields. “Our cooperative research program gives us two answers every 12 months instead of one,” he says, explaining that the scientists collect two years of research data each year because Michigan and New Zealand are in opposite hemispheres.

            He has been appointed adjunct professor in Lincoln’s viticulture program and is a co-supervisor for a doctoral student working on the project. He has also helped organize an exchange of graduate students between New Zealand and MSU. He would like to make the opportunity possible for undergraduate students, as well.

             Closer to home, Howell and his colleagues conduct viticulture research at Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station facilities in Clarksville, Fennville, Benton Harbor and Traverse City, in addition to the small campus vineyard. Howell also maintains close working relationships with grower cooperators at vineyards across the state.

            MSU researchers from many disciplines contribute to the success of Michigan’s grape and wine industry. Horticultural research by Howell and Dr. Tom Zabadal, coordinator of the Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center, ranges from vineyard establishment to vineyard mechanization, from evaluating champagne grape varieties to evaluating seedless table grape varieties for production in Michigan. Research by Dr. Rufus Isaacs’ small fruits entomology group is helping reduce growers’ dependence on pesticides. Dr. Annemiek Schilder, a plant pathologist at MSU, is investigating fungi that cause dieback in grapevines. Food scientist Dr. Jerry Cash is studying the effects of leaves and vines that get into wine during mechanical harvesting. Dr. Kris Berglund, a professor in the Agricultural Engineering and Chemical Engineering departments, is researching methods for producing high quality brandies from Michigan fruits. And Dr. Don Holecek, in the MSU Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center, conducts an annual survey profiling the influence of Michigan winery visits on consumer buying habits.

            The Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council (MGWIC), formed in 1985, provides funding for research, education and promotion for wine and wine grapes in Michigan. Last March, the council awarded more than $83,000 in grants to MSU researchers to support Michigan’s growing wine industry. Howell and his colleagues have also attracted federal research moneys from the Viticulture Consortium, a national program funded by the USDA to support grape research. “MSU has been a strong partner in the evolution of Michigan’s wine industry and continues to serve as a valued resource to the industry,” says Linda Jones, MGWIC program manager. “Their success in obtaining federal funding for research attests to the excellence of viticulture research at MSU.”

            Wine production is currently a small but growing part of Michigan’s harvest–juice grapes account for 95 percent of Michigan’s output. Almost 75,000 tons of juice grapes were produced in Michigan in 1999, making the state the third largest producer in the United States. The state ranks sixth in wine grape production, harvesting 2,800 tons a year. Even so, Howell believes that wine grape acreage in Michigan could double in the next 10 years. “I think we’ll see the growing area expand,” Howell predicts. “There could be vineyards from the state line to up north and east of Traverse City.” Demand for Michigan wines has increased more than 25 percent in less than five years, with sales climbing from 1.32 million liters in 1995 to 1.67 million in 1999. “One of our greatest challenges for the future is to raise awareness of the fine quality of the wines available from Michigan,” Jones says.