A vital component of the Oregon Wine Research Institute’s “vine to wine” research approach is the ability to conduct a large number of controlled, research scale fermentations. This has allowed studies such as “Managing Nitrogen in the Vineyard or the Winery” to be performed or the 2020 project where eighty-four micro-fermentations of smoke impacted grapes from all across Oregon were conducted to provide information on the impact of smoke exposure in different regions and on different grape varieties. While the current research winery has served us admirably in the past, it is undersized and underequipped to meet our current and future needs. This hinders the ability for OSU to conduct research to address current and emerging industry priorities, such as mitigating the impact of smoke exposure from wildfires and recruiting and training the next generation of winemakers and viticulturists. Therefore, the primary need of the OSU enology program is a well-equipped winery with increased capacity for experimental winemaking.
An exciting opportunity to expand and update the winery has recently presented itself. The building the research winery is currently housed in, Withycombe Hall, will soon undergo a $55 million, fully funded renovation. This renovation will increase available space for the winery from approximately 800 sq feet to over 2,000 sq feet. With the infrastructure needs taken care of, all we need to do is fill that space with equipment essential for enology research and teaching. This will include the addition of a large number of small capacity research fermenters and appropriately scaled processing equipment, as well as a winery laboratory fully equipped to conduct essential grape and wine analysis. Investment in the new winemaking facility will provide the OSU enology program with a state-of-the-art winery with outstanding capabilities comparable to our peers at other Universities. In addition, larger-scale equipment for teaching purposes will strengthen training of current students along with providing improved work force training through extension courses.
The Erath Family Foundation has generously kicked off our $531,000 fundraising campaign with a gift of $100,000 and a promise to fund another $100,000 if the remaining $331,000 is raised by December 2022. Sam Tannahill and Cheryl Francis also committed to a $100,000 gift for this opportunity leaving $231,000 left on our goal. There are opportunities at many different levels to contribute as we fundraise towards this goal. If you are interested in finding out more about the winery renovation, please contact James Osborne at james.osborne@oregonstate.edu or call 541-737-6494. He would be happy to talk with you about the plans for the winery and how this facility will have a profound impact on our ability to conduct enology and viticulture research and train the next generation of winemakers and viticulturists. You can also contact Amy Crumley (amy.crumley@osufoundation.org), the Senior Director of Development for the College of Agricultural Sciences, for more details on how to partner with us on this project.
