Dirt to Glass: Elevating Michigan Wine from the Ground Up

As Michigan’s grape and wine industry continues to evolve, Dirt to Glass 2025 is entering its fourth year. This flagship event has become the essential gathering for growers, winemakers, researchers and industry leaders to collaborate, innovate and shape the future of Michigan wine.

Taking place in Traverse City, Michigan, on Aug. 21-22, 2025, this year’s theme, “From Intention to Impact,” marks a new chapter in the conference’s programming. The early years of Dirt to Glass were about defining shared goals and building a cohesive statewide vision. In 2025, we turn our collective focus toward execution, equipping industry members with the tools, insights and partnerships needed to make measurable change. The 2025 program reflects that ambition, featuring panels designed by industry members for industry members. Each session weaves together local expertise and national thought leadership, creating a rich environment where Michigan’s challenges meet actionable solutions.

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Conference highlights: Dirt to Glass 2025 program overview

Each session at Dirt to Glass 2025 is thoughtfully curated to deliver practical value, stimulating meaningful dialogue and align Michigan’s grape and wine industry around shared goals. Designed to bridge research and real-world application, the program integrates cutting-edge science, on-the-ground expertise and interactive discussion to help attendees move from vision to measurable, industry-wide impact.

Importantly, the content and focus of the conference are not determined in isolation. Each year’s agenda is built in direct response to insights gathered from industry stakeholders, both during the previous year’s conference and throughout the year via active engagement with growers, winemakers, educators, suppliers and marketers. These insights are funneled through a dedicated and diverse planning committee (see below), whose role is to ensure the program reflects the most timely, relevant and strategic needs of Michigan’s grape and wine sector.

For 2025, the industry called for deeper collaboration, more applied learning and opportunities to engage directly with both local and national leaders. In response, Dirt to Glass 2025 features several sessions with a series of roundtable discussions, pairing Michigan-based expertise with perspectives from across the country. These sessions focus on the key topics that matter most to the future of Michigan wine-climate adaptation, varietal strategy, grower-producer partnerships, soil science and quality identity.

Session 1. Looking back to leap forward: A Dirt to Glass retrospective

The opening session briefly revisits the four years’ efforts in programming and impact of Dirt to Glass. Industry leaders and founding voices of Dirt to Glass will present key takeaways, milestones and mindsets from the past three editions. This session is an opportunity for the attendees to actively participate in mapping out where Michigan wine goes next, identifying barriers and unlocking opportunities to accelerate progress across the vineyard, cellar and market.

Session 2. Grapes, grit and growing pains: Rewriting the rules on value

This keynote session with Katie Nelson, chief winemaker at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, brings a national lens to local issues. With decades of experience leading one of the country’s most successful wine operations, Nelson shares her philosophy on building authentic, scalable, quality-focused programs. This session will present a strategic framework for how Michigan can evolve in the future.

Session 3. Beyond the label: A candid conversation on quality over price

Nelson returns for a no-holds-barred conversation with Michigan’s own Bryan Ulbrich of Left Foot Charley. Together, they unpack the challenges of navigating a marketplace that often prioritizes pricing over origin. This session focuses on relationship dynamics, what growers and winemakers owe each other, and how aligned values create consistent, high-integrity wine.

Session 4. Futureproofed: Rethinking what belongs in the ground

With unpredictable climate patterns and new disease pressures, the old playbook for varietal selection is no longer enough. Paolo Sabbatini, PhD, of Michigan State University leads a deep dive into varietal-site compatibility and the emerging potential of PiWi (fungus-resistant) varieties in Michigan. The session will offer analytical tools and real-world examples to guide planting decisions that are both economically and environmentally resilient.

Session 5. Banking on soil: Farming for a future we can count on

Led by Bruno Basso, PhD, of Michigan State University, one of the world’s leading experts in agroecosystem modeling and founder of the Soil Inventory Project, this session addresses the foundational role of soil in vineyard performance and sustainability. Basso will share data-driven insights from research conducted in Michigan vineyards, demonstrating how carbon tracking, water-use modeling and soil health monitoring can inform both ecological and financial decision-making.

Session 6. Stripped labels, surprising truths: Let the wine speak

In this interactive blind tasting, attendees will evaluate five wines made exclusively from Michigan-grown grapes, without knowing the producer, price or varietal. The aim: to test our assumptions, uncover bias and experience Michigan wine through a purely sensory lens. This exercise shifts the focus from branding to what truly matters: style, expression and quality in the glass.

Session 7. Growers uncorked: What it takes, what it gives

This panel, moderated by Lee Lutes of Black Star Farms, features several of Michigan’s most experienced grape growers speaking openly about their work. Topics will include labor management, soil health, pest and disease pressures, changing weather and how grower voices can, and must, remain central to regional wine identity. Expect honest insights and technical depth.

Session 8. Dirt to Glass, and back again: What we learned, what we build

This closing session facilitated by Sabbatini and Amanda Danielson of Intentional Agriculture is designed as an interactive working session where the most important themes from the conference are distilled into actionable, industry-wide takeaways. A key feature of this session is a real-time survey tool, allowing participants to share feedback, identify priorities and voice their perspectives on the direction of the industry. Responses collected will directly inform post-conference outcomes and help guide the strategic vision for future Dirt to Glass events. Rather than ending the conversation, this session hands it forward, empowering attendees to help shape a shared roadmap and apply the insights, tools and momentum gained across their businesses, communities, and regions.

From dialogue to direction: A future built together

Dirt to Glass was founded on a collective commitment: To elevate Michigan’s grape and wine industry through science, collaboration and bold conversation. Over the past three years, it has grown into a vital statewide platform, uniting growers, winemakers, researchers and industry professionals in pursuit of a shared future rooted in both identity and innovation. This year’s sessions are crafted following industry suggestions. From evaluating climate-resilient varietals and leveraging soil carbon as a business asset, to reimagining how value is created between grower and producer, each topic was selected because it directly shapes the future of Michigan wine. Whether through blind tastings that challenge assumptions, national keynote insights or Michigan grower-led panels that bring vineyard realities to the forefront, the program delivers a rich blend of applied learning and strategic thinking. The final session, fueled by real-time input from participants, will ensure that every voice contributes to the industry’s evolving roadmap.

Join growers, winemakers, scientists and industry leaders for two days conversation, cutting-edge research and practical collaboration Aug. 21-22 in Traverse City.

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Dirt to Glass 2025 planning committee

This conference is made possible through the leadership and dedication of a diverse planning committee representing every facet of Michigan’s wine industry:

• Megan Barlow, Wilbur-Ellis Agribusiness
• Andrew Backlin, Modales
• Jennifer Berkey, Michigan State University Extension
• Craig Cunningham, Vineyard Consulting
• Amanda Danielson, Intentional Agriculture
• Veronica Dragovich, Michigan State University
• Kate Edwards, Michigan State University Extension
• Maxwell Eichberg, Stranger Wine Company
• Tim Godfrey, Lake Michigan College
• Bonnie Hardin, Mari Vineyards
• Paul Hannah, Meijer
• Lee Lutes, Black Star Farms
• Esmaeil Nasrollahiazar, Michigan State University Extension
• Paolo Sabbatini, Michigan State University