Highland Wine

Highland Community College began offering Associate of Science and Technical Certificate programs available in both Viticulture and Enology in Fall 2010. Students are encouraged to enroll in face to face courses taught at the HCC-Wamego Campus, generally meeting one Saturday per month. If class schedules do not work for students then they have the opportunity to enroll in online courses through the Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Alliance (VESTA) program. VESTA allows students in Kansas to take viticulture and enology classes online from colleges and universities across the US while paying in-state tuition rates. The classes transfer fluidly between the VESTA partners, and they all apply toward the degree and certificate programs.  For more information, contact HCC V&E Program Director, Scott Kohl.

Please scroll down to see information about HCC wines.

In Spring 2021, Ms. Nicole Clark joined HCC.  A native of Kansas, Nicole spent the previous eight years working in the winery inidustry in Sonoma County, California.  Ms. Candice Fitch-Deitz joined HCC in 2018.  Formerly a member of the VESTA team in Illinois, Candice was most recently an Horticulture agent with KSU-Research and Extension in western Kansas.  Mr. Scott Kohl has been the administrator and director of the HCC Viticulture and Enology program since its inception in 2008.  While Mr. Kohl, Ms. Fitch-Deitz, and Ms. Clark have varying ranges of duties, they boast over 35 years of combined industry experience, and the three collaborate in all areas of the HCC V&E Program.

HCC has four vineyards, three of which are in and around the Wamego area:  HCC Oregon Trail Vineyard (850 vines) was planted in Spring 2009  The first harvest was in 2012.  The HCC Research Vineyard (528 vines, 44 varieties) was planted in Spring 2013.  In Fall 2013, HCC was awarded a National Science Foundation - Advanced Technology Education project grant.  The grant funded an expansion of HCC's vineyards as well as equipment purchases to teach students about commercial and mechanized scale vineyard management.  Most of the vineyard expansion is at HCC Military Trail Vineyard, located just across US HWY 24 from the HCC-Wamego Center, and a small portion of the expansion is directly south of the Research Vineyard.  Finally, HCC has planted vines on the Klinefelter Farm in Brown County near Hiawatha, KS.  Here's a link to the HCC Klinefelter Farm.   All total, HCC now has just over 5200 vines in the four vineyards.  Here is a short video demonstrating the vine planter HCC used in the 2014 to plant the HCC Military trail Vineyard.  

While HCC and VESTA both encourage students to complete degree and/or certificate programs, we recognize that entrepreneurial minded students want a head start on opening their own business. While the full program of courses contains a wealth of knowledge, we welcome the student interested in just one or two courses prior to planting vines or making wine.

We look forward to serving the Kansas grape and wine industry through our continued partnerships with Kansas State University Research and Extension, Kansas Department of Agriculture, and VESTA.

Read about the most recent happenings at HCC Viticulture and Enology on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hccve.

See below for the list of courses and workshops offered this year.
 

Highland Community College Winery

 

Update!!

HCC Winery has moved!  We also changed names, ownership, and phone numbers.  We're now Highland Vineyards and Winery, LLC.  We've moved down the street to 503 Miller Drive, still in Wamego, KS.  Our winery is a part of the 456 Wineries business incubator.  The tasting room at 456 Wineries opened October 5th, 2019.  We have some of the same wines as always along with some additional wines for our loyal customers to try.  We're excited about this new avenue to teach students and industry enthusiasts about Kansas grapes, Kansas wine, and industry involvement.  You can find us on Facebook as well as our website.  Both sites have our calendar of events.  Go Scotties!!

One last nugget from the old winery.  In January 2014, Highland won Best in Show for wines entered at the Kansas grape and wine conference. Highland Vineyards and Winery has that same wine and others.  Cheers!!

 

Enology Links	Viticulture Links
Course Descriptions	Course Descriptions
Certificate Program	Certificate Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

External Links

HCC V&E Facebook Page

456-Wineries Business Incubator

Viticulture and Enology Science Technology Alliance (VESTA)

Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Association (KGGWA)

Kansas Viticulture and Farm Winery Association (KVFWA)

US Treasury – Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)

KS Department of Revenue – Alcoholic Beverage Control (KS ABC)

KS Department of Agriculture - Sensitive Crop Map and Registry

KS Department of Agriculture - Sensitive Crop Signs available for purchase

 

HCC V&E Course Schedule

Fall 2021

Course	Dates and Times	Instructor
VIN213 Regional Vineyard Mgt	(Sat, 9a-5p); 8/7, 8/21, 9/18, 10/2	Candice Fitch-Deitz
VIN293 Soils for Viticulture	(Sat, 9a-6p); 10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 11/20, 12/11	Candice Fitch-Deitz
ENO116 Intro to Enology	(Sat, 9a-6p); 8/7, 8/21, 8/28, 9/11, 9/18	Nicole Clark
ENO130 Intermediate Enology	(Sat, 9a-6p); 10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 11/20; 12/11	Nicole Clark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring 2021

Course	Dates and Times	Instructor
VIN111 Intro to Viticulture	(Sat 9a - 6p); 3/20, 4/17, 5/1, 5/15, 5/22	Candice Fitch-Deitz
VIN212 Winter Viticulture Tech	(Sat 9a - 5p); 1/23, 2/6, 2/20, 3/6	Candice Fitch-Deitz
ENO    TBA	(Sat 9a-6p);
ENO    TBA	(Sat 9a - 6p);

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Sat, Mar 6	Pruning Workshop w/ KGGWA, Dover, KS	9am	$5
Tue, July 27	Field Day + Open House, HCC in Wamego, KS	9am	$10

For all workshops, RSVP to skohl@highlandcc.edu or 785-456-WINE

 

Highland V&E Program Services

• Consultation for vineyards, wineries, and perspective members of the industry
• Industry workshops throughout the year
• New winery incubator, 456-Wineries is now open!!