With nearly 35,000 acres of orchards across the state, Michigan is ripe for cultivating grapes, cherries, pears and other fruit.
When Puneet Manchanda moved to Ann Arbor in 2007, he was delighted to find the remains of orchards in his backyard with grapevines and pear trees.
Manchanda, the Isadore and Leon Winkelman Professor of Retail Marketing and professor of marketing in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, decided to take advantage of the pears and grapes growing at home and turn them into wine, which he had always enjoyed and was eager to research.
“I was very fascinated by wine. I was very fascinated by different kinds of production, different varieties,” Manchanda said. “There’s a science to it and there’s an art to it.”
Since first experimenting with wine production a few years after moving to Ann Arbor, Manchanda has harvested the grapes and pears in his backyard to make bottles of wine for friends and family.
Manchanda explained there are three stages to crafting wine. The first stage, picking the produce, can prove the most challenging, he said.
“The produce is really ready only at a given time, and it doesn’t wait for you. … So, if I’m traveling that week and the grapes are perfect and ripe, then it’s going to be a problem,” Manchanda said.
The second stage is fermentation. After crushing the fruit and separating the seeds, the liquid is left to ferment into wine over the span of four to six weeks. The third stage, post-processing, involves making final adjustments including adding more tannins or sugar.
After his first attempt at making pear wine, Manchanda split the fermented wine into three batches and gave each a different level of sweetness. He asked his neighbors to participate in a blind taste test to determine the best level.
Manchanda admits that his wine — which has a comparatively low alcohol level for wine at 8% — is best served as a dessert wine or a base for mixers or sangria. The Concord grapes in his backyard are not typically used to make wine and can create a bitter taste. However, this added challenge has allowed him to tap into his creativity and try new combinations to create tasty drinks.
More than a decade after he first started making his own wine, Manchanda said, he still enjoys learning new aspects of winemaking and working with his wife to care for their plants.
“It’s something that I’m not used to,” Manchanda said. “It’s something that is a totally new skill set to me, especially the plant side. And so, it’s kind of fun engaging in different parts of the brain that makes you think differently about things.”
Throughout the years, Manchanda has grappled with the unpredictable circumstances that come with plant care. One year, a disease spread through their backyard, damaging the grapevine, leading to no fruit. Another year, bats snuck in at night to devour the entire year’s grape harvest. Six of his seven pear trees have died and required removal since moving into his home.
“(Making my own wine) gave me a new appreciation for people who basically do agricultural work or make wine, because there’s so little you control. … It’s a mysterious process,” Manchanda said.
As an academic, Manchanda said, it can be difficult to “switch off,” even on weekends or vacation. So, he likes to find hobbies and activities outside of work where he can absorb himself in a new topic.
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“I think it’s very easy for somebody like me who’s been around for a long time to forget to take the student’s point of view,” Manchanda said. “So, I always try and do (a hobby) where I am the student, where I am learning, because I think it helps me empathize.”
While Manchanda’s interest and knowledge of wine production has grown tremendously since he first started the process, he doesn’t define himself as a wine aficionado.
He said there is large wine community dedicated to tasting and storing thousands of varieties. But, he said, he is comfortable indulging occasionally with wines he buys off the shelf or one of his homemade bottles.
“It’s fascinating as a subculture. It’s a world that you can get into, and if you’re obsessed by it, there’s no end to the time and money that can be put into it,” Manchanda said.
Manchanda said his favorite part of the wine production is sharing the final product with friends and family.
“My view of wine is it should bring enjoyment. And I always say that bad wine with good company is better than good wine with bad company,” Manchanda joked.
Janet Torno
Great to learn about Professor Manchanda and his wine growing process and perspective. I was also impressed to hear that he enjoys learning a new skill (making wine) that keeps him in a place to parallel his students’ learning process! I would enjoy taking one of his courses as an alum and “
Lifetime Learner” as Marcus collins has kindly described me!