Niagara Now and The Lake Report featured an article on Niagara College’s harvest season, highlighting the hands-on learning experience for a group of twenty NC students in the Winery and Viticulture program. The article focuses on the students completing a portion their studies at the vineyard on the Daniel J. Patterson Campus, where they complete hands-on learning every Monday during harvest season.
During the harvest, black netting that had been protecting the grapes from hungry birds had lifted off, and the students have been at work clipping golden green bunches of Vidal grapes into pink plastic bins on the ground.
Gavin Robertson, professor in NC’s Winery and Viticulture Technician program, and Alison Findlay, NC Winemaker, shared insights in the article:
“They’re learning while they’re here, and then they have to go back to the other classes,” explains Robertson. “Most of the work will be done right here, in the 20 acres of vineyards on campus, because we have a diverse enough estate vineyard that we can pick pretty steadily…we also partner with some of our graduates who now work at other wineries.”
“In the program, we cover the vineyard, the winery, as well as sales, marketing, and sensory analysis,” said Findlay.
Read the October 2 Niagara Now article here.
