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local workforce, and in turn elevating the quality of wine being produced in the region. The program is designed to prepare students for the conditions unique to winegrowing in the Finger Lakes. "Our teaching vineyard is planted to about 50% vinifera and 50% native and hybrid varieties," said FLCC educator Paul Brock. Brock instructs 50 students in viticulture at the school's agricultural park in Geneva. "We have close ties to Cornell," he said. "We invite professors to come in and speak to classes and we go on field trips to their sites." By next fall, the school will be able to offer students hands-on training in an 8,900-square-foot viticulture center that will include a teaching winery complete with an enology laboratory, aging rooms, wine storage, a crush pad and classrooms. Brock anticipates that enroll- 78 V I N E YA R D & WINE RY MANAGEM ENT | ment in his program will double once the new teaching winery is completed. Although the majority of his students are seeking second degrees or changing careers, students are also entering the program directly from high school, as it allows them to transfer into the four-year enology program offered at Cornell University. "The FLCC program is all about the pragmatic aspects of V&E," said Peter Bell of Fox Run Winery in Penn Yan. "There's a real need for people who have a basic level of training and can learn the rest on the job. Many of my interns at Fox Run have been part of the FLCC program." Bell pointed out that FLCC concentrates on vinifera and the native cold-hardy hybrids that are grown primarily in the Thousand Islands region. "Cold-hardy varieties present their own specific set of challenges that are outside of what we Jan - Feb 2014 might typically see for vinifera varieties," he noted. Students also learn winemaking techniques including de-acidification and how to build palate structure for interspecific grapes such as traminette and French- American hybrids. Bell's optimism about the local industry is palpable. "It's a good time to be in the wine business – we're on fire with riesling," he said. "We've got to keep the momentum going, and it all ties back to the next generation of winegrowers entering the industry with the right combination of formal education and hands-on skills." Deborah Parker Wong is the Northern California editor for The Tasting Panel magazine. She earned her WSET Diploma in 2009. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. w w w. v wm m e d i a . c o m