The CCOVI class of 2000. Back row: Megan Schofield, Robin Johnson, Elizabeth Grant Douglas, David Douglas, David Sorokowsky, Rob Power; Sitting: Nicole Mercier and Shiraz Mottiar.

Shiraz Mottiar has been winemaker at Malivoire for several years now and consistently delivers great wines in a number of styles, now including blends. Elizabeth Grant-Douglas, meanwhile, is working in the Napa Valley and is the winemaker behind one of my favourite mid-priced chards: La Crema. I wonder if her Niagara training makes her ignore the fat, oaky style of some California chards and do it right instead...

In mid-August dozens of alumni returned to the school to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first graduating class from Brock’s Oenology and Viticulture (OEVI) program.  Brock’s OEVI was created in 1997 and was the only degree program of its kind in Canada.  The OEVI program provides a comprehensive scientific education, plus practical skills in grape growing and winemaking, as well as studies in business, tourism and wine appreciation.

Debbie Inglis, Director of CCOVI, says “Canadian oenologists and viticulturists traditionally had to train elsewhere, but the OEVI program provided students interested in grape growing and winemaking with the opportunity to perfect their craft in their own country."

There are of course excellent wine education programs at colleges in both Ontario and BC, but Brock's CCOVI remains the Canadian gold standard, and with several PhD-level scientists on the faculty.