My daughter-in-law Jessi Rivera at the Big Ten Baquet

This years Michigan Grape and Wine Conference was held at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center on the Campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI. Those of you who know me know how much I love the other big state university (Hint: colors are Maize and Blue) that my daughter attends and that I attended. But, I have to admit that the conference exceeded my expectations in every respect.

First I need to complement the organizers, starting with Linda Jones, Karel Bush and Sherri Goodreau, the members of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council Industry Council and the members of the Michigan Grape and Wine Conference Planning Committee.

Our sister company, miwinebarrel was the Keynote and Big Ten Banquet Sponsor. That meant that Maxi’s Creative Director and miwinebarrels’ COO, Joshua Rubin had to give a speech about our company. He gave a short introduction on our family history (think prohibition, bootleggers and Sicilian Spaghetti) and our numerous summer vacations that included visiting wineries in the Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas.

I also have to comment on how good the food was at the Hotel and Conference Center. The lunch buffet was better than any conference I have been to.

“The Kellogg Center is home to an extraordinarily diverse, talented team of culinary professionals as well as a large support staff comprised of many students from MSU’s The School of Hospitality Business. With over 400,000 visitors coming through our doors annually, it is not unusual for our dedicated kitchen and banquet staffs to serve an average of 1500 meals per day, requiring a great deal of organization, planning, and most importantly, team work. The Kellogg Center also hosts a multitude of special events including the popular Visiting Chef Series, now in its 14th year, which brings award winning chefs from across the country to the hotel for interactive cooking”

The first night of the conference again had a Tour de Vin at the Welcome reception. I must give a shout out to all the of wineries that had exceptional wines in the tasting, although there were too many to mention them all:

Chateau Fontaine had a wonderful Woodland White, made from Auxerrois, a little known grape variety in this country, originally from France.

Here are some more photos from the event:

Interesting Star Trek Label from Gravity Winery

Our Keynote Bill Oliver from Oliver Winery explains how a small sleepy winery can be turned into a thriving establishment with distribution in 22 states!