The Santa Rosa Junior College Student Wine Club hosted its first wine tasting event at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at SRJC’s Shone Farm Campus, highlighting local wines from Shone Farm and other wineries.
The SRJC Student Wine Club, with help from the wine studies program and Student Government Assembly, had 10 wine selections, including two white wines available to taste, grown and processed at Shone Farm.
The tasting began with a brief introduction by Wine Studies Program Coordinator Kevin Sea regarding the “Sip and Spit” policy required for the event and SRJC Student Wine Club President Abrea Tillman helped him guide guests through the tasting.
The tasting began with a flight of five white wines, two sauvignon blancs and three chardonnays from Shone Farm, Franciscan and DuNah wineries. Guests were given 15 minutes to taste each wine and write down their thoughts. Dr. Sea then asked guests to describe the varietal characters of the wines, from the crisp green apple notes of the sauvignon blancs to the buttery taste of the chardonnays.
The second flight of wines were red cabernet sauvignons from Franciscan wineries, aged from 10 to 21 years. Guests noted the differences in the wines due to their ages, with the younger wines giving notes of black cherry and blackberry and the older wines having notes of green bell pepper, spice and tobacco.
Tillman said she was happy with the turnout for the event. “I would call [the event] a win,” she said. “The club started last semester, and this semester we’ve already seen more student engagement.”
The tasting ended with a raffle for a donated bottle of a 2017 Zinfandel from a local Napa winery. Tillman said she wants to grow the club by hosting more events. “We want to have one event per month and provide scholarships and job opportunities to students.”
For more information on SRJC’s Student Wine Club at this link.
