Cornell Opens Teaching Winery

ITHACA, N.Y.—Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), opened the school's new Teaching Winery on April 1.

Cornell, long known for its viticulture (grape-growing) research, now claims the only university teaching winery in the eastern United States. The $900,000 facility promises to prepare students for careers in New York’s wine and grape industry, which ranks third nationally in wine production and includes more than 250 wineries across the state.

Ian Merwin, the Herman M. Cohn Professor of Horticulture, and Ramón Mira de Orduña, associate professor of enology, helped Henry unveil the 1,800-square-foot building. The winery, attached to the Cornell Orchards store, will act as the Ithaca hub for CALS’ new viticulture and enology undergraduate major, which enrolls roughly 30 students and draws on more than 50 faculty members from the horticulture, food science technology, plant pathology, and applied economics and management departments. Inside the winery, students will access cutting-edge equipment to learn the science and art of winemaking.