For the first time in its storied history, the University of California, Davis, is selling wines to the public made by students, staff and faculty from grapes they grow in the Napa Valley and around campus in Yolo County.
Hilgard631 has been in the works for more than 10 years and was made possible by a 2021 state law that allows the transfer of as much as 20,000 gallons of Department of Viticulture and Enology wines to a nonprofit that will handle public sales. With this release, the department bottled roughly 500 gallons of wine to sell.
Money from the sales will support student scholarships. By using the grapes and wines produced through teaching, the department is enhancing sustainability. Prior to these sales, wines made by students, including in a 10-week winemaking course, had to be discarded.
“These wines represent our students, their knowledge, creativity and learning,” said Ben Montpetit, chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology. “From vine to bottle, our students are involved in every step.”
The wine label name pays homage to Eugene Hilgard, founding director of the university’s Agricultural Experiment Station, and 631, which is the address of the Teaching and Research Winery on campus.
The wines sold under Hilgard631 include a 2020 cabernet sauvignon and 2024 sauvignon blanc made from grapes at Oakville Station, a research and teaching vineyard in the heart of Napa County.
Twelve other wines made by students in the product development class, known as VEN 127L, also will be for sale, including albariño, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah.
VEN 127L has traditionally been focused on blending, wine stabilization, bottling and the design of labels, and this launch broadens the class to include the consideration of selling, said Professor David Block, who created the course in 2017 when he was chair of the department.
“The wines are made by students who are still learning and getting to try out things they may not have done before,” Block said. “It’s a new aspect of the program. It’s more sustainable than pouring it down the drain.”
In VEN 127L, student winemakers are divided into three groups and charged with developing a red and white wine. Each group also gets help from a professional consultant and department alum who offers advice throughout the class.
“It’s absolutely fascinating,” said Leticia Chacón-Rodríguez, the winemaker and winery manager. “The students get to connect everything that they learn — all the chemistry, regulations, marketing and blending. The blending piece is where you really put your senses into play.”
Students also design their own labels. Master’s student Bainian Chen designed the Oakville Station labels, which are a mix of vibrant colors and some familiar campus sights such as the water tower and a bike.
“I usually love my pictures to be very colorful, full of imagination,” said Chen, who is known to give artwork to friends and professors. “I wanted to leave something for the viticulture and enology department.”
The student winemakers also helped label and bottle the wines, working a commercial mobile bottling line in a trailer behind the winery.
“To see it being bottled is coming full circle for all of us,” master’s student Megan Hill said.
Block feels the same way. “I want to buy the first bottle of wine,” he said.
Wines will range in price from $30 to $40 per bottle for student labels and from $50 to $125 per bottle for the Oakville wines. The winery is bonded and meets federal regulations for commercial wine sales. More information can be found at the Hilgard631 website.
Media resources
Press kit for downloadable photos and video for use with credit to UC Davis.
