Wine flows through Central Coast and Cal Poly(3)
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."
