InsideNC caught up with Team Wine faculty lead Gavin Robertson and participating Winery student Kayla Brown prior to Round 16 of Caps, Corks and Forks, to tap into plans for the event an its impact on the student experience.
Here is what they had to say:
Gavin Roberson, faculty lead
How many students are involved with Team Wine for CC&F this time around?
We have seven students on Team wine this year – five who will be presenting and two as support They are all in their first year of the Winery and Viticulture Technician program.
How did they get to become part of Team Wine?
These were students who were motivated to participate and work on this extracurricular experience and were successful candidates from an applicant pool of their peers.
How does student participation in this event correspond with their learning experience?
This a volunteer experience. They were keen to do it to enhance their own tasting abilities and understand food and wine pairing principles better, to increase their public speaking skills, and for the social and fun aspect of the event.
How do you feel Caps, Corks and Forks benefits students on Team Wine?
The students gain a ton of confidence in their own tasting and public speaking abilities by the end of the very involved process. The event is very similar to winemaker’s dinners that are quite common in the industry, so it prepares them for the very public sales and marketing role that almost all winemakers play once they’ve graduated from NC and have entered the industry.
What kind of valuable experience do students gain by participating on Team Wine?
Caps, Corks and Forks is totally unique amongst co-curricular volunteer opportunities available to our students. It is a really high pressure situation for the classroom as it is an enormous crowd and they only have a couple minutes to make their case for each pairing.
Their instructors and lots of senior College staff are there, their parents and friends often, and lots of strangers and when you layer in the competitive nature of the event that is played up between wine and beer (mostly for fun, sometimes for real) that is built into the event it’s incredible that these students are even willing to talk about a beverage that many of them knew nothing about when they started the program in September a few short months ago. By pulling this off they gain a confidence that will stand them in good stead throughout the rest of their studies and in the industry as successful grads.
What have the students on Team Wine done to prepare?
We’ve been through two formal tastings with iterations of the food courses and selections of wines, narrowing in on what is going to work best. We’ve also met numerous times to talk about the stories we want to tell about the pairings themselves but also about the grape growers and wine producers that worked hard to make these amazing Ontario products and about the student experience at NC.
What types of wines are they selecting?
We are pouring one wine from the NC Teaching Winery and four wines from other Niagara VQA wineries… wine selections will be a surprise but they’re all delicious and speak to the amazing quality of wine that our province produces!
Team Wine gathers at Caps, Corks and Forks on Feb. 4.
Kayla Brown, student
Your Program of study and year?
Winery and Viticulture Technician, first year
Why were you interested in participating in Caps, Corks and Forks?
I was interested in Caps, Corks, and Forks for a few reasons.
First, I thought it would be a great way to improve my tasting skills and knowledge which is a big component of my program and the industry. Secondly, I was interested in learning more about the Ontario wine industry since all the wines for the event must be VQA Ontario wines. Thirdlly, I love the service side of the wine industry and wanted to get more exposure to providing a service and experience that the guests can enjoy by speaking about the wine pairing choices the team made.
What is your role (what you’re doing to prepare?
To prepare for the event, my role is to collaborate with my team to narrow down specific wine pairings to go with each course of the event. This included brainstorming a list of varietals (for example,chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir etc.) that we thought would work with each course. We then had two tasting nights where we were able to taste through each course with the wine pairings we thought of. The first tasting night was to narrow down which varietal worked best and the second tasting was to narrow down the specific wine and producer that worked best with each course.
On the night of the event, I will be speaking about one of the pairings we decided on for one course during the dinner. To prepare, I am putting together a two-minute speech that introduces me and provides insights into why we chose a specific wine for the course. This involves doing some more research into the producer of the wine we chose so we can provide enough details to the guests to ensure they can fully appreciate the pairing we made!
How are you gaining valuable experience by participating on Team Wine?
Working alongside Allison Findlay (the head winemaker at NC) and Gavin Robertson (our team lead) has been a priceless experience.
The knowledge they have about the wines we are tasting is impressive and to hear them discuss the elements of each wine and how it pairs with the food is so insightful. There are a lot of applicable topics we’ve learned in our courses that I see playing out during our tasting when I listen to Allison and Gavin’s perspective.
I’ve also never had to taste so many wines in a sitting before. During our first tasting, we tasted around 30 wines which really tested my abilities. I had to remain quite focused in order to understand how each wine was or wasn’t working for a course. After the decisions we made, I feel quite confident that I can take my experience tasting a high quantity of wines into my next tasting classes and eventually into the cellar when I’m working as a winemaker and tasting through all the wines being made!
Where are you from and what led you to your program at NC?
I’m from Mississauga.
I was pursuing a career in a completely different field before starting my program at NC but I was always passionate about wine. A family member of mine graduated from the Winery and Viticulture Technician program which sparked my interest in the program and potentially pursuing this field as a career. In regards to a career path, I was more interested in pursuing a hands-on career path in this industry such as wine making.
After learning more about the program at NC, I appreciated how diverse and hands-on the program was which ultimately influenced my decision to choose NC. Not only does the program cover wine-making and grape growing, but it also covers the sommelier side, wine chemistry, wine business, sales, and marketing. I think this program opens up a lot of doors for students to pursue many career paths after graduating.
