Justin & J Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture

The study of “vines to wine” in Cal Poly’s Wine and Viticulture program creates a partnership with local industry to deliver a true hands-on learning environment in this new multipurpose center.

The new Justin & J Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture has boosted the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Department into a leading edge program that prepares students for the cultivation, production and marketing of wine. The complex includes a full working winery, a wine learning center and a future brewery/distillery.

EXPERIENCE A WORKING WINERY

The 15,000 sf Lohr Family Winery Building is utilized to produce both student and commercial wines, with a capacity volume of 5,000 cases per year. Many of the grapes are cultivated by students at Cal Poly’s own vineyards adjacent to the new Winery. The facility includes a crush pad, fermenters, barrel rooms, bottling room and a research lab that is used for graduate students and senior projects. The Wine and Viticulture program also includes a retail sales component for the wines they produce.

WINE, SCIENCE AND COMMUNITY

The 12,000 sf E. & J. Gallo Winery and Family Building houses three teaching laboratories: a Viticulture Lab, and Enology Lab, and a state-of-the-art Sensory Lab with carefully controlled lighting, acoustics and ventilation. Conferences, receptions and meetings that welcome local and global industry members takes place in the large Swanson Conference Hall, which also functions as a large lecture venue. A full catering kitchen is included for both student and public events. Support space for students, faculty and visiting professors allows the complex to be a working center for education and industry.