Wine is big on the Central Coast. Really big. So big that even Cal Poly has its own wine program-and wine. The wine industry is enormous along the Central Coast and Cal Poly is in the heart of it, surrounded by luscious vineyards in all directions.
Whether you dabble in it or drink a lot of it, wine’s presence in San Luis Obispo is undeniable. World-renowned wineries pop up everywhere you look, including one on campus. Various wine tasting rooms dot the landscape of downtown. Wine is even sold at the downtown Cal Poly merchandise store, not too shabby for a dry campus.
It’s not surprising that all this wine-love has trickled down to the local college students. Business senior Ryan McKinley has grown quite fond of wine since coming to Cal Poly.
“I’m a cabernet sauvignon man,” McKinley said. “I like the full body, the rich flavor. It’s not sweet like a lot of whites.”
Like most college students, McKinley is on a relatively tight budget, and doesn’t want to spend precious cash on expensive wines, He prefers to purchase cheaper wines at Trader Joe’s and Cost Plus World Market. These stores sell bottles from $4 to $12 and offer excellent deals on Central Coast wines.
McKinley notes that wine is popular amongst students, but isn’t your typical party drink like beer, and probably never will be.
“People drink wine when they want to have a nice, classy time,” McKinley said. “It’s good for dates and celebrations. It’s not really an everyday type of thing cause nobody has that type of budget.”
San Luis Obispo wine country is capable of influencing even the most seasoned wine drinkers. Physics senior Florian Mettetal grew up in France and has been drinking wine with meals since he was young, yet he still considers San Luis Obispo a wine-drinker’s paradise.
“There are a lot of amazing wineries around here,” Mettetal said. “I’ve been on a couple wine tours and those have always been great. When I go to a winery, I’m willing to spend $50 dollars on a bottle.”
One way students experience the Central Coast wine culture is through wine-tasting. Going on weekend wine-touring excursions is a great way to spend a sunny afternoon while becoming familiar with the local wine culture. Grace Keggl, the tasting room manager at Per Bacco Cellars, a San Luis Obispo winery and vineyard, said she has noticed a recent increase in wine-tasting popularity amongst students, who tend to prefer white wines.
While wine discounts are not offered to all Cal Poly students, Per Bacco Cellars lends support to wine and viticulture students.
“For wine and viticulture majors we comp the tasting fee,” Keggl said. “We give them a free tasting and then a 25 percent discount because we consider them part of the industry.”
At local vineyard Domaine Alfred, tasting room manager Andrea Chan has noticed similar trends in student wine tasting.
“They like all of our wines,” Chan said. “There’s one that is a little less expensive that they seem to be drawn to.”
Often students will organize classy winery tours, sometimes renting limos and dressing formally.
“I see a lot more students here, but we’ve always had students come through,” Chan said. “We’ll usually get a group of students every Saturday. Usually it’s because someone’s turning 21.”
An increasing number of wine connoisseurs have found their niche in Cal Poly’s wine and viticulture major.
Wine and viticulture officially became a degree program spring quarter of 2004, although it had been evolving through Cal Poly’s viticulture program for 20 years. The major was developed in response to a growing wine industry, particularly in the Central Coast.
“The feeling was that we needed a strong program to support the industry and there was also a sense that the scope of the program needed to be more than just grape growing and making wine literally,” said John Peterson, head of the horticulture and crop sciences department.
Students enrolled in the wine and viticulture program learn about all aspects of the wine industry. It is a major that has high student interest and currently has 300 students enrolled. It combines information and educational coursework in viticulture, the process of growing wine grapes and enology, the process of making wine and agricultural business. Students choose one of these components as a concentration.
“The major is very popular and we are already an impacted program,” Peterson said. “There is a lot of support and interest from the wine and viticulture industry, so we are in a good position. Job opportunities are really extraordinary.”
Cal Poly recently installed a new pilot winery on campus, located near the horticulture unit. At the winery, students experiment with different varieties of grapes and actually make wine. The pilot winery made its first crush of grapes this fall.
The grapes produced by Cal Poly’s vineyards are made into four different Cal Poly wines: a Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and a special blend called Mustang Red. The wine is manufactured at Orchid Road Cellars, a company located in San Luis Obispo.
Interested parties can purchase this wine online, at the Cal Poly store downtown and Taste, a local wine tasting room.
“Wine and viticulture is a great major because I am training for a something that won’t be a desk job for the rest of my life,” said wine and viticulture junior Steven Dempsey. “I want to be out where I can feel like my hands are getting something done. You get to literally see the fruits of your labor.”
In his three years at Cal Poly, Dempsey has witnessed the growth and evolution of the wine and viticulture program.
“I joined the third year of the program. It’s new, but it has snowballed in popularity. It’s become a much stronger program even since I have been here.”
Some students have put their wine and viticulture knowledge to practical use. Wine and viticulture senior Chip Forsythe has already built his own vineyard on top of a large mountain in Santa Maria. Forsythe partnered with the man who owns the land to build the vineyard.
Forsythe spent a lot of time figuring out the perfect location for his vineyard, which spans about two acres.
“Grapes will grow anywhere,” Forsythe said. “They’re like friggin’ weeds. The thing is you need lots of sunlight and lots of water. They will grow in anything. You want it to be warm and not windy. The area I found is 10 degrees warmer than anything around there and it gets sun for most of the day.”
Once Forsythe found the right spot, he spent lots of time and money getting the vineyard up and running. All of his expenses were reimbursed by the owner who wanted a vineyard up on the mountain for nothing other than bragging rights, according to Forsythe.
Forsythe has more humanitarian reasons for building and operating the vineyard. His vineyard is basically a trial run. For his senior project, he plans to move to Stellenbosch, South Africa with a friend and medical student from Louisville. There, Forsythe will build a winery and vineyard. The money he earns selling wine will be used to help subsidize expenses for his friend’s neighboring hospital.
Forsythe is working on a grant proposal to receive money that will help pay for the project. He has pieced together half of a business proposal as well, which includes information regarding the vineyard, winery and hospital.
“We decided we wanted to help people and be remembered permanently by changing people’s lives,” said Forsythe. “Africa was a good place to start.”