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LMC Wine Program Hosting Open House

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The Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail continues to grow with new wineries joining the tour every year, and those who dream of some day adding a stop of their own along the trail have a unique opportunity to see first-hand what it takes to become a winemaker or to work with winemakers already populating the Lake Michigan Shore Appellation.

Potential students interested in learning more about Lake Michigan College’s Wine and Viticulture Technology Program are invited to an open house on Thursday, June 16 from 4:30 to 6:30pm at The Mendel Center on the Napier Avenue Campus in Benton Harbor.

Guests will tour the teaching winery, sample student-made wines, meet instructors and current students and talk with financial aid and advising specialists. Applicants can also learn about applying for scholarships donated by Round Barn Winery and St. Julian Winery.  
 
The Wine and Viticulture Technology program is unique as the region’s only comprehensive program offering extensive hands-on training in enology (winemaking) and viticulture (grape growing). Students gain year-around experience in the college-managed vineyards as well as in Lake Michigan Vintners (originally named Great Lakes Wine Institute), the Midwest’s first and only commercial teaching winery which is currently located within LMC’s Mendel Center.
 
The college is in the planning stages for a new Wine and Culinary Education Center that will accommodate larger production capacities, a tasting room and a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen. 
 
The program launched in fall of 2015 with 12 full time students who began learning about harvest operations and fermentation, and about different wine styles by tasting a vast assortment of wines from all over the world. In the spring the focus shifted to the laboratory and the vineyard, where students learned routine wine and chemical analysis and quality control, and the requirements for the establishment of a quality vineyard. Next they’ll learn about winery operations and business management before they begin internships in fall 2016.
 
Lake Michigan Vintners has already processed more than 9.4 tons of grapes. The wines to be released this year include a dry Riesling, an off-dry Riesling, a Seyval Blanc and a Pinot Noir. A limited number of cases of a sparkling rosé wine were also made. They hope to have wines available for purchase later this year.
 
Program director Michael Moyer located to Southwest Michigan from Walla Walla, Washington to launch the wine program. He brings 17 years of teaching and winemaking experience.
 
Moyer says, “This first batch of students is such a great mix. They came into the program with diverse backgrounds in science, business and agriculture, and some are currently employed in the wine industry.” He adds, “We’re able to grow some really nice grapes here. There’s a wine industry that has grown up here over the past 50 years and our job is to train people to work in that industry and help grow and improve the quality of our wines.”
 
Student training in the vineyard and winery is managed by Southwest Michigan native Mike DeSchaaff, who brings more than 20 years of experience working in the local wine industry. 
 
Current student Michelle Miloshoff said, “To come into a program like this and know that the two people who are running it have so much experience and are so good at sharing what they know, that it’s just the perfect program. I don’t know if I could get an education like this somewhere else. I was just really happy it was close.”
 
Local retiree Franklin Kulhanek recently bought an acre of vineyard property and wanted to learn more about winemaking. He says, “I found out there’s a program starting up here and got involved and here I am. It’s the best thing that ever happened!”
 
Online open house registration and program information is available by clicking this link: lakemichigancollege.edu/wine. Guests who pre-register will be eligible to win two tickets to the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Fest in Bridgman on June 18.
 

 
Contact (269) 927- 8617 or email at mmoyer@lakemichgiancollege.edu for more information about the program or the open house. The Mendel Center is located at 1100 Yore Avenue in Benton Harbor. Guests can park in lot B. and enter through the Mainstage Box Office.

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Photos are courtesy of David Knight Photography through Lake Michigan College. 

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