Cornell to Build a Teaching Winery
Ξ April 14th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ A Day at a Time, Wine News, Wineries |
It was announced April 2nd at the dinner gala ‘Cornell Celebrates New York Wines’ that Cornell University will build an on-campus teaching winery for undergraduates, a welcomed addition to their three-year-old Enology and Viticultural Program. Both Enology and Viticulture classes had long been a part of the Horticultural/Food Sciences, but only graduate students hitherto could seek degrees in either speciality. Undergrads had first to major in food science of pomology, for example. This would change when it was recognized there had emerged an acute shortage of vineyard managers and winemakers to meet the increasing demand for regional expertise in cool-climate viticulture and its associated pest complexes, a demand simply not met by West Coast university programs. New York State’s wine industry has been growing dramatically; it is currently #3 in the nation in grape and wine production. In 1976 nine wineries existed; now, 220 wineries (as of this writing!) populate the state. And over 600 vineyards. (Additional details may be found here.)
The necessary next step was to offer through Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, four-year undergraduate majors in Enology and Viticulture within the larger programs of plant and food science. (Currently 35 undergrads are enrolled in this young program, and it will be capped at about 55.) But an additional refinement is now in the works for E/V majors. Under the guidance of Professor Ian Merwin E/V will be consolidated, moving it away from the plant/food sciences major. As he wrote in an e-mail, “The initial EV majors were nested within the existing undergrad programs in Horticulture and Food Science at Cornell. The new program is independent and interdisciplinary”. And as an integral part of this move will be the construction of the winery.
The winery will provide undergrads hands-on experience in winemaking, just as Cornell’s vineyards now do for budding viticulturists. Of Cornell’s vineyards Prof. Merwin writes, “[There are] 8 acres total on two research farms near the Ithaca campus. The one in Ithaca (3 acres) has entirely hybrids such as Marchal Foch, Cayuga White, Seyval, Himrod, GR7, Chancellor, Traminette, Noiret, Corot Noir, and Concord. The one 10 miles north of campus with a milder winter climate because of its proximity to Cayuga Lake consists almost entirely of vinifera cultivars (Reisling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Lemberger, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Franc, now about 5 acres planted).” And of the Geneva Experimental Research Station? Merwin writes, “Most of their vinifera plantings were winter killed in 2004, so the remainder would be mostly hybrid grapes developed by the grape breeding program and grape Genetics Unit in Geneva”.
The winery will be 2400 square feet, plenty of room for a substantial case production. In fact, I asked Merwin whether Cornell, like Cal State, Fresno, will be marketing wines they produce. He would very much like to, but not if it would mean Cornell might compete with small, family wineries, a possibility he is very sensitive to. In any event, the architectural plans remain the property of Beardsley Design Associates in Auburn so I cannot post them here.
Finally, while reading the Cornell Chronicle post I noticed a list of sponsors for the evening’s event. They were Stoutridge Vineyard, Antica Napa Valley, Channing Daughters Winery, Raphael Winery, and Constellation Wines US. I was curious as to why Constellation participated. Prof. Merwin wrote, “Constellation Brands is the corporate evolutionary successor of the original Taylor, NY and Canandaigua wine companies in the Finger Lakes region. Of course it is now a very different regionally and globally integrated corporation, but there are still some of the original links and Cornell people in that corporation, and they have been supportive of Cornell’s efforts to develop this new undergraduate major”.
Cornell’s undergraduate E/V brochure may be found here.
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