In 2014,  Alfredo Koch from the college contacted Chris, as they had lost their teacher, and asked him to join the program, which has grown leaps and bounds since that time.

 

The Viticulture & Enology program at Hancock is one of 3 community colleges in California with a bonded winery, meaning they can produce and sell wine commercially.  Their goal is to give their students the skill to be able to go out and get jobs.  Safety is paramount in all that they do.  The students learn the entire process; harvest, bottling then on to marketing.  Everything is done by hand.  They grow a number of varieties, primarily pinot noir and chardonnay; sparking wine coming soon.

 

Three of their wines were entered into the Orange County Wine Competition, which is the largest in the US.   All three wines got bronze medals in a commercial wine competition.