SeeCalifornia.com

This weekend many will explore California’s fantastic wines by attending festivals.  Others may see colorful vineyards and look for “OPEN” signs when driving on roads such as Interstate 101 on the Central California Coast between Solvang and Pismo Beach. In one of the fields near Los Alamos you may notice a sign listing a Student Vineyard of Allan Hancock College (which is located a few miles north in Santa Maria.) The community college has been growing & sourcing grapes, and making wine for quite some time. Efforts to bring it to the public finally paid off recently when the college was bonded to sell its wine, a process that took nine years! Hancock Collage wine program, which has been in existence for nearly two decades, maintains a 4-acre outdoor classroom on the Santa Maria campus that includes a greenhouse, plus the field in Los Alamos shown in the photo. The school’s wine, Captain’s Reserve, named for Capt. Allan Hancock, comes in chardonnay and pinot noir. All proceeds from sales go back into the learning program which prepares budding vintners and wine industry students for careers. Hancock College isn’t the only school to sell student-made wine. A more established program at Napa Valley College markets and sells award winning wines online.  It should be no surprise that California’s higher education system offers the most classes in winemaking, management and marketing. Read more…>