Winery and Viticulture Technician<\/a> diploma program – gave the green light for the Icewine harvest, ensuring the forecast hit the VQA-required minimum of minus-eight degrees Celsius. About 40 wine students answered the call, joined by peers from the School of Wine, Beer and Spirits, and the School of Hospitality, all eager to get into the spirit of the season.<\/p>\nThe Icewine harvest is one of the most powerful real-world learning experiences our students have; it’s truly an ‘only at Niagara College’ moment,” said Robertson. “Harvesting grapes right here on campus in extreme winter conditions and then following that fruit all the way through fermentationto bottle\u00a0teaches lessons about patience, precision, and resilience that simply can’t be replicated in a classroom.<\/p>\n
“It’s been a rite of passage for our students for 25 vintages and a cornerstone of hands-on learning at Niagara College.”<\/p>\n
For first-year Winery and Viticulture Technician student Rowan McDowell, it was her first Icewine harvest.<\/p>\n
“I absolutely love Icewine and I have a higher respect for it now, after being out here in the cold for hours,” she said. “Now I understand why it costs upwards of $50 a bottle.”<\/p>\n
Second-year Winery and Viticulture Technician student Dakota George didn’t want to miss the chance to participate for the second time.<\/p>\n
“It’s amazing experience. Digging in the snow, pulling grapes off the vine, it’s kind of like being a kid again,” he said.<\/p>\n
The St. Catharines resident enrolled in the program after years of working in construction. He chuckled as he recalled how he thought that switching to winemaking would be less physically demanding.<\/p>\n
“I had a passion for wine and I wanted to share it with people,” he said. “I underestimated the amount of physical labour involved in winemaking for sure, but it’s amazing. You meet a lot of people and make new connections.”<\/p>\n
The fruits of the day’s labour will eventually be released as the Teaching Winery’s Dean’s List Icewine – expected to hit the shelves next year.<\/p>\n
“Icewine takes way more time, energy and input than other wines do. It’s a specialty wine and they are all exceptional quality from the start,” said Findlay. “And this year’s growing season was so high quality, it was a really good harvest, so I expect a really good wine.”<\/p>\n
For 25 years, NC’s trailblazing Teaching Winery – the first and only facility of its kind in Canada – has been a living laboratory for the College’s Winery and Viticulture Technician students, producing hundreds of skilled graduates who have gone on to advance the wine industry in Niagara and beyond.<\/p>\n
“There is no other school in the world that does this. Our wine students are able to experience all aspects of Icewine production right on campus – from picking frozen grapes off the vine in our vineyards, to pressing the grapes, producing and bottling at our Teaching Winery,” said Craig Youdale, Dean of NC’s Culinary, Tourism and Beverage Studies division.
\n“It is the definition of applied learning.”<\/p>\n\n\t\t