Washington State University Uncorks Its Own Student-Made Wine

Washington State University’s viticulture and enology facility won’t open in the Tri-Cities until next spring, but students aren’t waiting to bottle and sell their own wines.

And with the help of local winemakers, they’ve already sold out of their first release. Two hundred cases of a dry-style Riesling were snapped up soon after they went on sale last May. Now, 200 cases of a red blend are hitting the market this week.

Students at WSU are teaming up with Northwest winemaking heavyweights to churn out these bottles under the label "Blended Learning."

“We sold it out so quickly, and it was so well received that we will make another dry Riesling this fall," says Washington State University’s Director of Viticulture and Enology Thomas Henick-Kling. "I wished I had made three times as much as we did.”

Henick-Kling says the wine students have several more wines on deck for release later this year.

Some other Northwest-centered universities that make wine are: Walla Walla Community College, South Seattle Community College, Yakima Valley Community College in Washington; and Umpqua Community College and Chemeketa Community College in Oregon.