A new cash crop?
Planned class at TVCC will focus on viticulture

By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:41 AM PST

The Vale View Vinyard (shown here) may soon be joined by others as Treasure Valley Community College plans to launch a program for people interested in growing table or wine grapes.

ONTARIO — After a two-year effort, Treasure Valley Community College officials are poised to launch a program in the fall for people interested in growing grapes.

The viticulture program, though, could be at the mercy of budget considerations as the state grapples with a major financial shortfall.

 To help generate interest in the programs or seminars the college may offer on viticulture, TVCC’s agriculture department and the workforce training department held an informational meeting last week at the Four Rivers Cultural Center, which included wine and grape sampling.

After hearing from some industry representatives, Roger Findley, chair of the TVCC ag department, said the plan was to begin offering classes in the fall toward an associate of applied science degree.

“We’re 98 percent sure it’s going,” Susan Tinker, TVCC dean of instruction, said.

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Findley, though, adopted more of a wait-and-see attitude.

“It’s not official yet,” Findley cautioned.

The degree will take two years, but there will be opportunities to take individual classes, seminar, or short applied courses, the audience of around 90 people was told.

Findley said the process of developing the program has lasted about two and a half years.

“We looked for a need in the community. We decided to look into the program as a resource (for growers),” he said.

The viticulture program will be offered at the Ontario campus and  at the Caldwell Center.

Dr. Ron Bitner, Bitner Cellars, and a member of the Idaho Wine Commission, said the wine industry is in its infancy in Eastern Oregon, but Oregon, as a whole, is the No. 4 wine producer in the United States, behind California, Washington and New York. In his presentation, which he made with Moya Shatz, Idaho Grape Grower & Wine Producers, Bitner said that Eastern Oregon is considered part of the same American Viticulture Area  — wine country — as southwestern Idaho.  A climate that boasts hot summer days and cool nights proves beneficial to grapes, Bitner said.

“We have always had a good climate. We do grow world-class grapes,” Bitner said. When he started in 1981, there were two wineries in Idaho, and now there are 38, he said.

“Six new wineries have started in the past seven months,” he said. Wineries are the biggest draw in agricultural tourism, he said, noting that Walla Walla, Wash., is a good example, with 140 wineries. One of the things that helped Walla Walla, Wash. was having educational infrastructure, Bitner said.