When wine experts, winemakers, restauranteurs and winery/vineyard owners converge on Traverse City this month, they’ll discuss grape and rootstock selection, collaboration, marketing, climate change, and other elements integral to the industry here and elsewhere.

But one thing will be top of mind: Dirt.

The Third Annual Dirt to Glass Conference will take place Aug. 22-23 at the Cathedral Barn at Historic Barns Park in the Village at Grand Traverse Commons and at various local wineries. Conference co-founder Amanda Danielson says the goal is as much to elevate the perception of area wines as to improve their quality.

“Dirt to Glass was founded with the express purpose of elevating the Michigan grape and wine industry by encouraging higher quality wine made from Michigan-grown grapes, thus increasing global recognition,” says Danielson, an advanced sommelier and owner of Trattoria Stella.

“It’s frustrating so many people think it (Michigan wine) is trite and cute,” she adds. She is bullish on the quality of many of the wines being made here, though the industry is still a young child compared to the likes of France, Italy and elsewhere, where viticulture took hold literally thousands of years ago.

“The dirt – the terroir – is where everything comes from,” says Bryan Ulbrich, owner and winemakers at Left Foot Charley. Given the fact this region’s topography was created by the back-and-forth action of glaciers over thousands of years, “We don’t have consistent (soil). Top to bottom on a single hill could have different layers.”

Danielson, who founded the conference three years ago with Dr. Paolo Sabbatini of Michigan State University, believes the unique composition of the soil in this region and the efforts of winemakers and researchers provide opportunities for continued growth – and increased respect. “We have 4,000 acres now … in wine grapes. We could have 10,000.”

That could impact the state’s economy and its standing in the world marketplace.

And given wine’s relationship to its terroir -- the character imparted to a wine by its environment, farming practices and the soil in which the grapes were grown, the region’s soil – its dirt is of vital importance.

And it’s not all the same. Brian Hosmer, winemaker at Chateau Chantal, says the dirt underfoot varies from place to place, even within the confines of a single farm. “Walk through a vineyard and you see different composition of soil,” he says.

The conference will feature panels and speakers from across the state and beyond, including Sabbatini, a professor of viticulture at MSU, and growers, owners, and experts from downstate, the West Coast, even Italy. “We get a close look from other parts of the world,” says Kasey Wierzba, winemaker at Shady Lane Cellars.

She says it provides insights into how to improve the area’s wines and sustain and better the region’s success. “We look at where do we want to grow and be known for certain styles,” she says.

Danielson’s passion goes beyond wine to encompass agriculture and the environment in general. Insights and research into improving quality and yield for wine grapes can translate to other crops as well. It’s just that wine provides a starting point that draws more interest than crops such as corn, cucumbers or squash. “Wine is way sexier,” she says with a laugh.

She also believes the discourse around wine can help build awareness of the need to protect the Great Lakes and to mobilize the entire agricultural industry. All the crops grown in Michigan’s fields are products of its soil, and protecting the soil and the water are of paramount importance.

Protecting the soil starts with understanding that it is not just dirt you need to till, fertilize and water. It is home to thousands of different micro-organisms. Hosmer says such a perspective is a relatively recent development for Michigan’s wine industry. “When I left MSU in 2006 the discussion was just happening,” he says. Until then, soil had largely been considered as an inert medium.”

Another element impacting the industry is climate change. Hosmer says and other growers now deal with shorter, milder winters with increasing insect populations (bad), earlier spring and an extended growing seasons (good) but the possibility of frost (very bad). More storms, with potential for wind, hail, and driving rain, and the sheer unpredictability of it are all things growers must contend with.

“When I was at MSU, we had long, dry summers and rainy falls,” he says of the weather downstate. At that time, the summer weather was more variable in this region. Now northern lower Michigan is experiencing the kind of a pattern southern Michigan did a decade ago.

Ulbrich concurs. “In 2022, 23, we had long, dry summers, then downpours,” he says. That’s led to different practices, such as encouraging the growth of other plants among the grapevines. “We got rid of plants under the grapes,” he says of previous practice. “Now plants and cover provide shade and cooling and help retain moisture.”

The two-day conference starts with a series of seminars and discussions, followed that evening by a curated walk-around tasting. Participants can evaluate and discuss Michigan wines alongside other similar wines of quality from around the world. Day two includes visits to several different sites around the area, as participants take in everything from rootstock selection, using bio-protectant yeasts and biologically friendly nutrients.