Fruits of their labor
Tasting Cal Poly's fruits just got easier with the release of three student-produced wines.
The 2006 vintage pinot noir, chardonnay and the Mustang Red, a red blend of zinfandel and syrah, were grown on campus at Trestle Vineyard by a select number of enology (the study of wine-making) students. They were made at Orcutt Road Cellars in Edna Valley with the help of wine makers there.
Although the vineyard has been in place for about 20 years, these 2006 vintages mark the first time where students have been involved in every step of the process, from vine to bottle. Even the labels were created by students, with the pinot noir and the chardonnay featuring a mustang and the Mustang Red adorned in black with a splash of red.
Alumna Nicole Chamberlin was involved with the 2006 vintage while interning with Orcutt Road Cellars. She graduated in June 2008 with a degree in wine and viticulture, a concentration in enology and a minor in agricultural business.
"I think Cal Poly's whole learn by doing philosophy is really put to work in this major," Chamberlin said. "You go to viticulture class, you're out there in the vineyard on campus, pruning and counting clusters and all that, and then you actually see it get to come into the winery and get crushed. I think that part of it was really valuable for all the students that worked there."
July Ackerman, the Cal Poly wine program's project coordinator and a lecturer in the wine and viticulture major, said the six to eight students involved in the vintage went through a long process before they came to this point.
"What's involved in the wine-making process is they first start over the summer monitoring the fruit as it is maturing," Ackerman said. "Then, when it's ready to pick, they are working with the wine makers at (Orcutt Road Cellars) to crush the fruit when it comes into the winery. Then it goes through fermentation process and when fermentation is complete, it goes into tanks or barrels for aging."
Bottled in October, the three wines have been slowly released into the market at places like Cal Poly Downtown, which got a license to sell alcohol specifically for the wines, and TASTE, a cooperative tasting room run by the San Luis Obispo Vintner's Association.
A recent Thursday evening saw TASTE fill up with students and residents alike eager to sample the wares at a Cal Poly wine release party.
"I think these sell the most here of all the wine," said TASTE employee and wine and viticulture senior Tori Kline. "People come in all the time and they're like, 'I hear you have Cal Poly wines.' They want to know about them."