Consider Thomas Todaro a VIP among the vines. Todaro is Michigan State University Extension’s first viticulture educator, focused solely on the local grape-growing industry: experimentation, research, and supporting the many wineries in the region.

Todaro, 27, came to northern Michigan in August from Ohio, where he worked on improving fruit and wine quality, increasing freezing tolerance of bud and cane tissues, and improving efficiency in vine recovery following winter damage. The Ticker caught up with him as he was prepping a Leelanau Peninsula research vineyard for the growing season.

Ticker: Since you came on board in August, what have you been doing to acquaint yourself with the area, industry members and needs?
Todaro:Visiting and talking with grape and wine producers at their sites, attending cookouts, conducting needs assessment surveys to prioritize issues facing the industry and this region, and working closely with grower groups on educational programming and research directions.

Ticker: What have been your impressions of the grape and wine industry here?
Todaro:Vibrant, ardent, environmentally minded, enthusiastic and sophisticated.

Ticker: Are there directions you want to go or things you want to pursue to help take the region’s wine industry to the next level?
Todaro:I hope to encourage and help lead innovation; it is the willingness of this region’s industry to adapt to viticultural challenges that will take it to the next level. I want to guide this industry, through research-based information, towards a more environmentally and economically sustainable future.

Ticker: Extension is planting, at the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center, a new research vineyard of at least one acre of wine grapes of different varieties. What’s the purpose of this, and how might it benefit the region’s wineries?
Todaro:The purpose of the planting is to provide experimental material for applied and practical research to test and monitor cultivars that are economically important to this region. For example, a potential way to enhance the ripening of long-growing-season red grapes may be to adjust the timing and application of removal of leaves near the grape clusters.

Ticker: Extension is also purchasing grape maturity equipment to measure juice composition at locations in various regions and vineyards. What will this accomplish?
Todaro:This equipment will allow graduate and undergraduate student research technicians from MSU to get hands-on experience analyzing grape fruit maturity in the laboratory, an opportunity that has never been available here at the research center. This equipment can be another starting point in training this region’s future fruit scientists, and help raise awareness of the research capabilities of the center in terms of grapes.

Ticker: Do you have other research activities or areas of focus that you are interested in pursuing, that will help with problems or challenges that wineries face?
Todaro:Yes, the issue of managing pests as it relates to whole-vine health and fruit quality, and sustainable yields. I aim to provide clarity and direction as to the best practices and products to use.

Ticker: What do you think the local wine industry might look like in a few decades? Do you see it growing or achieving further acclaim and recognition?
Todaro:I would absolutely say the local industry will continue to grow, it’ll continue to refine its skills and its knowledge, and build its identity through quality winemaking.