Treasure
Valley Community
College considers offering wine
making classes
BOISE, Idaho -- Wine
producers in Idaho eager to
learn how to produce a quality
product might be able to get
that kind of instruction much
closer to home.
Treasure Valley Community
College, based just on the other
side of the Idaho border in
Ontario, OR, is considering
offering instruction on growing
grapes and how to transform them
into wine.
Susan Tinker, interim dean of
instruction at the college, said
the school has a strong
agriculture program so branching
out to wine making wouldn't be
that unusual. She said the
school has been considering the
idea for more than a year, and
that classes could be offered by
fall 2009.
"We're doing our homework,"
Tinker told the Idaho Statesman.
"We're not just casually
inquiring. We're pretty much on
a mission."
The school would likely
attract some Idaho students.
"If they build it, we will
come," said Ted Judd, one of the
founders of the Treasure Valley
Wine Society and owner of Vin du
Bois Winery.
Idaho has a small but growing
wine industry, with about 32
wineries, half of them in
southwest Idaho. Last year, the
Department of the Treasury
declared 8,263 square miles of
southwest Idaho and southeast
Oregon an American Viticultural
Area - the
Snake
River Valley AVA. The
designation is for grape growing
regions that produce wines with
a distinctive style and taste,
stemming from factors ranging
from climate to soil composition
to geography.
The Snake River Valley is the
first viticultural area for
Idaho's wine industry.
Oregon has about 400
wineries, and Washington state
nearly 500.
Idaho winemakers who want to
increase their knowledge in a
formal setting have driven four
or five hours to Walla Walla and
Tri-Cities in Washington state
for college-level short courses,
or they've gone online to take
classes.
"I was on a waiting list to
get into (Washington State
University's) online program,"
said John Danielson, a Meridian
resident who is part of a new
winery venture in Garden City.
"I think it would be awesome if
they had a program here."
Danielson said he's close to
earning a certificate in enology
- the study of wine making -
through UC Davis.
Tinker said school officials
have visited wineries in
southwest Idaho, and also looked
at schools that have successful
wine programs, including Walla
Walla Community College.
"We looked at their entire
setup," Tinker said.
Valerie Fayette, director of
the Center for Enology &
Viticulture at Walla Walla
Community College, said students
coming from the program get jobs
as assistant winemakers,
vineyard managers and tasting
room managers. She said many
plan to start their own
wineries.
# # #
South Okanagan
Valley Wineries form association
"What started as a post-pruning
celebration at the Toasted Oak Wine Bar & Grill (now Firehall
Bistro), which claims the
world’s most comprehensive BC wine list," writes Tim Pawsey,
Vancouver-based wine and food writer "has proved to be the
glue for the South Okanagan Winery Association. Membership
prerequisite: a cellar door south of MacIntyre Bluff, the massive
rock face that divides the semi-arid south from the more temperate
central and northern part of the valley, where, in some parts,
harvest times can lag two or three weeks behind."
Dubbed the 'Wine Capital of Canada,'
British Columbia's South Okanagan Valley region is alive with
outstanding wineries, many of which have teamed up to form the South
Okanagan Winery Association (SOWA).
Consisting of 20 wineries from the
communities of Osoyoos and Oliver, SOWA represents this niche region
that has attracted intrepid grape-growers, savvy wine makers, and
diverse international personalities. The member wineries and
vineyards adopt, evoke and express the namesakes of the land,
landmarks, personalities, and historic influences - all decidedly
regional:
