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Aspen Times Weekly: Wine 101

by Kelly J. Hayes

NEED TO KNOW

So you want to be a freshman again? You can find out more about these wine programs at the following websites:

Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture

http://www.wvit.calpoly.edu" target="_blank">Sections-ATW-ATW_InfoBox_Body">http://www.wvit.calpoly.edu

Fresno State

http://www.fresnostate.edu/jcast/ve/index.html" target="_blank">Sections-ATW-ATW_InfoBox_Body">http://www.fresnostate.edu/jcast/ve/index.html

UC Davis

http://wineserver.ucdavis.edu/index.html" target="_blank">Sections-ATW-ATW_InfoBox_Body">http://wineserver.ucdavis.edu/index.html

“The Davis kids are very analytical with a good understanding of science. The Fresno kids seem to be a little more hands on and have a feel for the work and the vineyards. And the San Luis Obispo kids are always the nicest kids in the world.” That was the breakdown I got from the senior winemaker at a California-based wine company that employs as many as 20 different enologists at any given time.

I had asked him whether a company like his pays much attention to where applicants went to school. Like an investment banking firm that might favor graduates from, say, Duke over Princeton. He answered, “Not at all. We hire on winemaking skills, similar tastes and whether candidates seem like a good fit for our company and our wines.”

Still…if you are a young person wishing to work in wine, perhaps the clearest path to becoming a winemaker is to go to one of the best wine programs. In California, The University of California at Davis, Fresno State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo offer three of the most extensive and respected curriculums in the various aspects of the wine industry.



While it may not be as old as Harvard (established in 1636), the viticulture program at the University of California has surprisingly deep roots. In 1880, the California Legislature recognized the potential of the state as a world-class wine-growing region and mandated that a program be established “providing for instruction and research in viticulture and enology.” This original department was located on the campus at Berkley. The growth of the department, like that of the industry, was stymied by the introduction of Prohibition in 1919 before it was reintroduced on the campus at Davis in 1935. Since then the Department of Viticulture & Enology has become the de-facto “Harvard of Wine.” Get a degree from the Davis program and you will be virtually guaranteed a position in the wine industry. In fact, Davis proclaims on their website that fully 80 percent of the California wine industry has ties to the school in one way or the other.

Davis’ focus on research and science in the study of wine was long considered the key to its success. There was a time when Davis grads were ridiculed for being too “practical” and not grape or field savvy. But over the last decade much of that has changed, thanks to the introduction of a number of new buildings and a renewed focus on the hands-on experience in winemaking.




To support this initiative, a number of significant new facilities have been constructed on the Davis campus, including the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, the state of the art UC Davis’ Teaching and Research Winery, and the LEED-certified Jess S. Jackson Sustainable Wine Building. All this for a program that graduates around 100 students annually.

About 180 miles south of Davis, in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, is the Fresno State Department of Viticulture and Enology. Here, students get their backs into their learning. Perhaps the most unique aspect of a Fresno winemaker is the fact that he or she has been able to participate in making and selling wine at the nation’s first bonded collegiate winery.

The Fresno State Winery, founded in 1997, produces, packages, distributes and sells wines just like a regular commercial winery. This month’s featured wine is a 2012 “March Merlot” and one can purchase it online at the Fresno State Winery website. Just go to http://store.fresnostatewinery.com.

Not far from the coast sits the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, home to one of the largest wine programs in the country. Close to 300 students are enrolled in the Wine and Viticulture Department at the school, which prides itself on providing a “hands-on” approach to the study of wine. Students work a 14-acre, state-of-the-art vineyard and, like the Fresno program, are involved in the production of a student-produced wine label. This allows for a fully integrated curriculum that takes students through the entire process of vineyard management to winemaking to marketing.

The California Legislature, 130 years after its initial mandate for a program, took another step in helping to ensure the future of the industry this past year when it passed a “Sip and Spit” law. Assembly Bill No. 1989 allows students who are registered in “qualified academic institution” and at least 18 years old to participate in sensory analysis courses where they can taste and spit wine and beer. The law, which gives students under the legal drinking age of 21 special dispensation, strictly mandates where and when the students may drink. But it is a significant step for those enrolled in the programs at these institutions of higher learning.

All of this simply means that if you have an interest in studying wine and how it is made and marketed, there are a plethora of opportunities. Those who choose to make wine their careers have many more choices today for degrees and advanced degrees than were available even a single generation ago.

So while you may have majored in drinking in college, today it is possible to spend four (or more) years learning about wine without getting a single hangover.

Ah, progress.

Kelly J. Hayes lives in the soon-to-be-designated appellation of Old Snowmass with his wife, Linda, and black Lab named Vino. He can be reached at malibukj@aol.com

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