Learn a little something about Allan Hancock College's viticulture program, tasting room, and commercial winery

It’s immediately apparent that Alfredo Koch knows what he’s talking about. He’s a professor and coordinator for the agribusiness/viticulture and enology program at Allan Hancock College, and he’s got credentials galore: an ag degree from Cal Poly, a doctorate from UC Davis, three wineries under his belt, and decades in the game. 

Learn a little something about Allan Hancock College's viticulture program, tasting room, and commercial winery
FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BASH: Sip wine with professors, students, and industry experts/potential employers at Allan Hancock College Winery’s fifth-anniversary celebration on Sept. 21 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Presqu’ile Winery near Santa Maria. Full of Life Flatbread will serve the food while the Dave Becker Trio brings the music. Tickets cost $100 and are available at hancockcollege.edu/ahcwinery. Not able to make the event? Stop by the winery’s tasting room every Friday from 2 to 5 p.m at the Santa Maria campus for some sips and snacks. Visit hancockwinery.com for more info.

click to enlarge Learn a little something about Allan Hancock College's viticulture program, tasting room, and commercial winery
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRIS MCGUINNESS
DOCTOR GRAPE: Alfredo Koch was gracious, engaging, and incredibly informative during a short tasting at the Allan Hancock Winery. If he taught me as much as he did in less than an hour, imagine how much students enrolled in one of California’s few community college viticulture degree programs can learn in two years.

We met on a Friday, and Koch had pamphlets. He handed me a course list with 42 unique classes covering wine’s every angle. He said he’d been teaching at Hancock for about 14 years and helped build the school’s start-to-finish wine program from the ground up. 

“We started in an old building, this small place with no sinks,” Koch said. “So we improvised.”

Koch was an utter wealth of information. The flip side of his pamphlet had examples of varied jobs in the wine industry and descriptions of the school’s 4-acre facility. He gave me a postcard invitation to the new winery’s fifth-anniversary bash, a classy affair with food, music, and a bottle of wine for every guest! The party takes place at the picturesque Presqu’ile Winery in the hills outside of old Orcutt on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Koch said there’s a lot to celebrate.

For the last five years, Hancock students have mastered their wine craft on modern equipment in a legit, commercially bonded laboratory. They’re producing about a thousand cases per year, designing labels, and marketing their wine in grocery stores like Spencer’s and Trader Joe’s. Several of their creations received medals in the annual Orange County Commercial Wine Competition, and eight wines received great ratings from Wine Enthusiast—four scored 90 or higher, which Koch assured me is a good thing.  

“That’s very unique for a community college wine,” he said.

I usually feel uncomfortable in tasting rooms and don’t know how to look cool or what I’m supposed to say about each little sample of old juice, but getting schooled by Koch in that quiet corner of the college was pretty fascinating and comfortably accessible.

click to enlarge Learn a little something about Allan Hancock College's viticulture program, tasting room, and commercial winery
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRIS MCGUINNESS
GLASSES PILING UP: With teachers and experts guiding the process and students striving to master the proper techniques, Allan Hancock College’s winery is hardly an amatuer endeavor. They make good stuff. Of the three I sampled, this dark 2015 syrah was my favorite, with its deep berry aromas and peppery undertones.

“It should be about what you like,” Koch said.

A student helper poured while we sipped an albariño, a white wine made from grapes bred in northwestern Spain and grown on-site. Koch said students experimented with harvesting early and late in the season to measure what effect timing had on the final taste. 

We drank the unfermented juice, which was a completely different animal than your standard Concord grape juice. Koch noted the “good acidity and citric tones” and told me that harvesting early produces a brighter flavor, while waiting led to a smoother taste and a hint of pineapple. 

Koch said students also experiment with production tweaks, like comparing the effects of oak barrels to steel tanks. Most of the important work, however, happens in the field and ultimately depends on the genetics inside each grape strain, Koch said. Apparently, Hancock’s location gives its grapes a unique flavor, even compared to the same grapes grown in the vineyards just outside of town. Being on the valley floor and closer to the ocean keeps the grapes just a little cooler and wetter, and the sandier soil helps with pest control.

“The fruit we can grow in this area is incredible,” Koch said. “The wines that are produced here are … wow! They are tremendous.”

We ate a bunch of Gouda cheese and bread dipped in oil and vinegar while we chatted about wine and teaching and taking advantage of the Central Coast’s unique opportunities. Koch said the viticulture program at Hancock is one of only three in California to be offered at a community college, where classes are affordable and flexible enough for working students to develop the skills and expertise they need to rise to the top of the industry. Also, there are hundreds of professionals and alumni working in the area who Koch can invite as guest speakers to share their experiences in class.

“I love being with the students when they’re learning,” Koch said. “The happiest part is to see them succeed—working and thriving.”

click to enlarge Learn a little something about Allan Hancock College's viticulture program, tasting room, and commercial winery
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRIS MCGUINNESS
BARRELING TOWARD A CAREER: In addition to this wall of oak casks, Allan Hancock Winery has state-of-the-art equipment (like their de-stemmer, chiller, fruit press, and filtration system), allowing students to graduate with hands-on experience, ready to work in the real world.

Koch said many students have misconceptions about the college’s viticulture classes—that they might be an easy way to earn A’s while getting buzzed on campus or that they’ll be out in the fields picking grapes under the hot sun all day. But neither is true. These are serious courses with an emphasis on technology and chemistry. And while working in the wine business can be a fun career, it’s not all sipping decadent drinks on scenic hilltops.

“They think of it as something to do while you relax and in these nice locations, but it’s a lot of hard work,” Koch said. “It’s very necessary to really learn and not that easy to do it.”

After a quick look at all the modern machinery in the production area, it was time for me to leave. I’m no expert, but the wine produced at Allan Hancock College seems on par with any I’ve had from more traditional wineries. It makes sense that a team of professors teaching a veritable army of eager students every last detail about wine production would make some solid offerings. 

Located on campus and open Fridays, from 2 to 5 p.m., the tasting room might be less scenic than some ranches, but it’s a gift from heaven for any of-age students wrapping up classes for the week. 

Contributor Nick Powell is looking for interesting people to show off their favorite food spots. Place your order at [email protected]

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Contributing writer Nick Powell is seeking ingredients for fresh food recommendations. Send your suggestions to [email protected].

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