Raise a glass to the final semester test in college winemaking class

COLLEGE STATION — Finishing up college finals never tasted so good — at least for the 30 students in the Enology 421 class in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.

Their final exam for the fall semester was to uncork a bottle of wine they carefully crafted and creatively named over the past few months and convince a panel of judges to “raise a glass” to their product.

Two expert winemakers and one consumer representative independently picked the Fall 2015 favorite to be Chene Lisse, French for smooth oak, which the student winemaker team said was the aim for the taste profile of their batch.

But chances are other winemakers in the class will yield a good grade — no matter the outcome of their batch — for learning in-depth about the c

hemistry of the fruity liquid in addition to the typical aroma and taste sought by consumers, according to their professor, Dr. Greg Cobb. instructor for the course, also known as Principles and Practice of Wine Science.

“There’s a lot of interest in Texas wine,” said Cobb, Texas A&M plant physiologist and enologist, who originally became interested in teaching the course because of the scientific principles involved. He now acknowledges the importance of the product for the state.

“It would take about 18,000 acres of vineyards to produce enough grapes to meet the demand for Texas wine in this state,” he said.

While the course may sound on paper like a three-month party bouncing around wineries and tasting rooms across Texas on field trips and ending with a personal vat bottled with giftable labels, Cobb assured the course includes a rigorous look at the science behind the popular beverage.

“I spend time working in wineries so I can learn more and add to the course,” said Cobb, who started the class in 1998. “They all start with the same basic kit, but this year for the first time I gave them a catalog of additives that can be used in winemaking so they could come up with their own flavors. The taste they end up with can be quite different among the class teams on the final.”  

Among the techniques students learn is how additives can intermingle for different flavors. Cobb said, for example, students are taught to taste the difference between vanilla extract by itself and with sugar added.

“We have one class where I mix up a series of chemical additives instead of wine,” he said. “They learn to taste different things out of context so they can start to detect the different components.”

Regardless of the judges’ choices, the students seemed pleased to part with their unopened bottles, which most said were targeted for gift giving to family and friends. They also indicated the class may impact future job choices.

Among the class of 30 students, Cobb said, six have indicated an interest in a career of winemaking, while others have expressed interest in the marketing or grape production side of the business.