14 CapitalPress.com
September 8, 2017
Center trains Northwest vintners
By GAIL OBERST
For the Capital Press
In the 1990s, a small group
of vineyard and winery own-
ers began a quest to develop a
program that would help train
workers for Oregon’s bur-
geoning wine industry.
Today, with more than
900 vineyards, 545 wineries
and 14,000 wine-related jobs
in the state, that small group
appears
forward-thinking.
Eighteen years ago, Cheme-
keta Community College es-
tablished its Northwest Wine
Studies Center in the Eola
Hills west of Salem. Since
then, its students and work-
shop attendees have learned
everything from food and
wine pairing to managing en-
tire vineyard operations, ac-
cording to Jessica Sandrock,
Chemeketa’s new director of
wine studies and agricultural
sciences.
Set at the edge of the eight-
acre vineyard on Eola Hills’
oak-forested south side, the
Northwest Wine Studies Cen-
ter offers students hands-on
work in the vineyard and in
Gail Oberst/For the Capital Press
Jessica Sandrock is the new director of Wine Studies at Chemeketa Community College, where students get hands-on training in the
college’s vineyard.
the on-site winery.
The program offers two
associate degrees — one in
winemaking and the other in
vineyard management — and
several certificates. Workshops
— either for credit or for fun
— are offered each term.
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This fall, for example, the
public and degree-seeking
students can take wine appre-
ciation, general viticulture
and introduction to winemak-
ing. Vineyard spraying and
pruning workshops, some
offered in Spanish, are also
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part of the line-up, aimed
at helping current vineyard
owners keep workers’ skills
up to date.
The program has had an
unexpected impact. In addi-
tion to training employees to
work in established business-
es, many of the program’s stu-
dents have used winemaking
and vineyard skills to launch
their own operations. At a
recent annual awards cele-
bration at the center, dozens
of wineries lined the hall of-
fering samples of their latest
vintages, all with connections
to Chemeketa’s program.
For example, Iraq war vet-
erans Ben Martin and Ryan
Mills of Dauntless Wine Co.,
completed the wine stud-
ies program and joined Paul
Warmbier to found their new
Gaston winery.
Some of the students
joined the program with an
aim to working with the win-
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ery industry in the future.
Danny Jaffer, the program’s
Student of the Year, said he
intends to use his knowledge
as a civic leader. He got the
idea from Lowell Ford, one of
the founders of the program.
“Lowell said: ‘Danny, if you
really want to know some-
thing about the wine industry
in this part of Oregon, you
should take some classes in it
at Chemeketa.’ He was right.”
Ford, owner of Illahe Vine-
yards, said in the 1990s he
suggested teaching a vineyard
management class at Cheme-
keta to meet the demand for
training from new growers.
The first class was so popular
they had to cut off registra-
tion. More classes were of-
fered, equally as popular.
“The college realized we
had a winner in the program
so we hired a full-time in-
structor in Al MacDonald and
offered an associate degree.
The wine studies program
has grown way beyond what I
ever dreamed possible,” Ford
said.
Vineyard skills can be
developed in two ways: by
completing the two-year vine-
yard management degree, or
by completing the one-year
vineyard operations certif-
icate. Both tracks provide
coursework and hands-on ex-
perience for vineyard work-
ers, but the degree program
adds additional science, math,
management and elective
courses that could include
some winemaking and pro-
cessing skills, based on the
student’s interests.
The winemaking degree
provides technical training
and background knowledge
needed for winemaking in the
Northwest. The winemaking
program also provides on-the-
job experience at local winer-
ies.
For information about the
program, call 503-399-5139,
or visit the web page, www.
chemeketa.edu/programs/
winestudies/