College's wine centre expected to be hub for Niagara's wine region

When it opens in August 2009, Niagara College’s new Wine Education and Visitor Centre will do more than teach aspiring winemakers the intricacies of vineyard management and grape fermentation.

The $3.2-million centre at the college’s Niagara-on-the-Lake campus will give wine country tourists a central location where they can learn about Ontario wine.

Administrators hope the new building, to be nestled into the college’s 40-acre vineyard, will be a hub for Niagara’s wine region, giving visitors one-stop access to information on all wineries in the province.

On a rotating basis, wineries will be invited to set up in the college’s 2,000-square-foot retail wing and offer samples to visitors.

A giant wall displaying bottles from the more than 120 wineries in Ontario will be placed alongside the latest Niagara College Teaching Winery vintages.

Information displays on grape growing, icewine and the meaning of Vintners Quality Alliance, or wines made from 100 per cent Ontario grapes, will enlighten visitors.

The centre will serve to promote the entire industry, not just the college’s wine brand, said Jon Ogryzlo, the college’s dean of environment, horticulture and agribusiness.

“They’re not going to come in and all we’ll talk about is the teaching winery,” Ogryzlo said.

“We’re going to talk about the industry all the time. That’s our approach, basically, is we’re the industry centre. We’re a public centre.”

At its core, the 8,525-square-foot building will be a state-of-the-art learning facility for the 60 wine and viticulture technician students and hundreds of others who come to the college to train in a range of areas from sommelier to wine marketing to wine appreciation.

The basement floor of the two-level building will contain grape and wine production areas, a barrel cellar, wine library, classrooms and laboratories.

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The larger space will allow applied research and industry seminars to grow, as well as nurture the college’s partnerships with Brock University’s wine program and the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre.

Professor and winemaker Terence Van Rooyen said the new building was sorely needed.

Students of the eight-year-old program have been producing wine in an old storage barn, which was never designed to be a winery, Van Rooyen said.

“You can only do so much in such a small, small space we have now,” Van Rooyen said.

“There’s a certain percentage of a message that does get lost if we have 35 students in there. Now we can cater to all of them.”

Ogryzlo said it all comes down to students and education.

“We feel that if they’re educated in a really modern, up-to-date facility, they’ll be able to take those skills into the industry.”

Administrators hope the new building attracts more international students to the college wine program.

Niagara College’s teaching winery is the only one of its kind in Canada.

Several graduates are currently working in Ontario wineries.

About 4,500 cases of wine are produced yearly. The new production facility will have a capacity of 6,000 cases.

The college sells its wines mainly through its retail store.

Under Ontario’s provincial liquor laws, the teaching winery is not allowed to sell the products of other wineries.

But there’s a chance the winery might bundle its own wines with others in gift packs, which would be allowed.

Steve Gill, the college’s winery and vineyard manager, said staff hope the centre successfully promotes Ontario wine and the industry.

“The wine industry is an important partner to us and we want to be an important partner to them,” Gill said.