VESTA is a NSF funded partnership between the Missouri State University system, two year schools throughout the United States, state agriculture agencies, vineyards and wineries with a 21st Century vision for education in grape growing and winemaking. The VESTA program is designed and implemented as a certificate and two-year degree program to train students for work in the viticulture and enology industry. Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay will be offering classes this fall!
Partner institutions include:
Arkansas Tech University Ozark Campus-Ozark, AR
Central Lakes College-Brainerd, MN
Kent State-Ashtabula, OH
Highland Community College-Highland, KS
Michigan State University-East Lansing, MI
Missouri State University-West Plains, MO
Northeast Iowa Community College-Peosta, IA
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College-Green Bay, WI
Redlands Community College-El Reno, OK
Rend Lake College-Ina, IL
South Plains College-Leveland, TX
Attending the retreat were VESTA State Coordinators, VESTA Support Staff, VESTA Management Team, VESTA Instructors and industry reps from Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. The experience, knowledge and passion in this group was truly amazing. I mean check out some of the the people I got to know and who are involved in VESTA:
Ray Johnson: one of California's most admired wine educators and industry experts and currently the Director of Sonoma State University's Wine Business Institute and Assistant Director of the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
Patty Held: founder and president of Hermann Wine Trail, national and international wine judge, winemaker, industry speaker and consultant. She was working in regional wine long before most people noticed that wine existed outside of California and Europe. Her work as a winemaker (she graduated from California State University, Fresno's wine program when very few women even enrolled) and as a marketer has helped Missouri become one of the country's top regional producer's.
Dr. Barry H. Gump: Emeritus Professor of Chemistry and Emeritus Adjunct Professor of Enology at California State University, Fresno, where he taught courses in chemistry, brewing, and wine analysis for almost 40 years. He is also known for giving Patty Held (above bio) her only B! He is also the first holder of the Harvey R. Chaplin Eminent Scholar's Chair in Beverage Management at Florida International University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. In this position Dr. Gump is developing new classes and programs to expand the offering of the Beverage Management curriculum.
Dr. G. Stanley Howell: Professor and Viticulturist Emeritus Michigan State University has been credited with the expansion and improvement of the Michigan wine industry for over three decades. He was with the Horticulture Department since 1969, after earning a B.S. and M.S. in Horticulture from Mississippi State University, then a Ph. D. in Horticulture from the University of Minnesota. In 2001, Professor Howell created an undergraduate program in Enology and Viticulture at Michigan State University's Institute of Agricultural Technology. Howell retired on September 1, 2006. Fortunately for the industry, he has a number of consulting options including VESTA which keep him connected to viticulture and winemaking.
The meetings lasted all day Wednesday and part of Thursday. In the evenings, the group would get together for dinner prepared by Amanada Harris (Adam Puchta Winery) and Shelly Baker. These two cooked breakfast and dinner and it was amazing! Of course there was plenty of wine to taste as well. I enjoyed wines from Alabama, California, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon (I wonder who brought that one?), Texas and Wisconsin.
The show me state certainly showed me. It showed me that I am super scared of lightening, thunder, rain and tornado watches. Tuesday night equalled no sleep because I was glued to the TV watching The Weather Channel. It showed me a giant chicken, Elvis and a giant Titanic ship. It showed me that the VESTA program is unlike any other viticulture and enology program in the United States. The partnership between the different institutions, the flexibility of classes and the combination of instructors and staff who are passionate, educated and experienced are unlike any other. It showed me that other state industries are experiencing the same challenges and experiences as Wisconsin is.
What more could you ask for in the show me state?
A giant chicken?
How about an Elvis sighting?
Still not good enough? Then how about a gigantic Titanic ship?
