{"id":101155,"date":"2025-05-01T12:03:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T16:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=101155"},"modified":"2025-05-14T15:41:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T19:41:23","slug":"sell-out-student-wine-a-smash-at-charity-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/05\/sell-out-student-wine-a-smash-at-charity-auction\/","title":{"rendered":"Sell-out student wine a smash at charity auction"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of Brock University Applied Grape and Wine Science (OEVI) students have won the hearts of wine lovers while supporting a good cause.<\/p>\n

Their sparkling wine sold out during the Grapes for Humanity Fine Wine Auction held in April, marking the first time a wine made by OEVI students has been available on the open market.<\/p>\n

The group joined more than 25 other Ontario winemakers to handcraft 12 Cuv\u00e9e from the Heart wines, contributing 132 of the auction\u2019s more than 600 lots.<\/p>\n

Grapes for Humanity raised a total of $660,000, with proceeds going to Tree Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.<\/p>\n

The students\u2019 wine, called Field Blend, was sold in two ways: as part of a mixed case that included all 12 Cuv\u00e9e from the Heart wines or as six full cases of 12 bottles.<\/p>\n

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While officially a Marynissen Estates sparkling wine, Field Blend was made by Brock University students under the tutelage of Marc Pistor, Marynissen Director of Wine Making Operations.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI am happy to say that the Brock cuv\u00e9e was really well received,\u201d said Grapes for Humanity\u2019s Steven Campbell. \u201cThey started at $240 for a case of 12 and all moved up. Only one sold for less than $300.\u201d<\/p>\n

Field Blend brings together the flavours of Viognier, Gruner Veltliner, Auxerrois, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Meunier, Savignin and Pinot Blanc.<\/p>\n

Holly Eaton, one of 11 OEVI students who produced the wine, says the project was an experience to remember and that Grapes for Humanity\u2019s environmental mandate made the work more rewarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really glad that I was able to take part in the making of this wine and that it did so well,\u201d said Eaton. \u201cAnd I am not just happy for me, but for my classmates too. Now we can all say that our name is on something that we worked hard on, and it was for a good cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students were mentored through the winemaking process by Brock graduates Mitch McCurdy (BSc \u201918) and Marc Pistor (BSc \u201906), Head Winemaker and Director of Wine Making Operations, respectively, at Marynissen Estates in Niagara-on-the-Lake.<\/p>\n

Pistor teaches Wine Processing and Equipment as well as the Introduction to Wine courses in the OEVI program, which is offered by the Department of Biological Sciences and is the only program of its kind in the country,\u00a0using the winery in Brock\u2019s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of love and labour was put in this wine,\u201d Pistor said prior to the wine being auctioned.<\/p>\n

Eaton, who is beginning a master\u2019s degree under the supervision of Jennifer Kelly, CCOVI Oenologist and Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences, and CCOVI Director Debbie Inglis, hopes Field Blend\u2019s success will help promote Brock\u2019s grape and wine science programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an amazing program. It has gotten me so far and I have enjoyed every second of it,” she said. “And on top of that, you get opportunities to do things like this and make wine for great causes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell would like to see Brock students produce wines for future auctions, which he hopes will enhance their passion for the industry and increase their awareness of environmental issues and practices.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to inspire them to know that it’s not just a job,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can go through life and just go from day to day, or you can go through life and try to make the world a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A sparkling wine produced by Brock University Applied Grape and Wine Science students sold out at the Grapes for Humanity Charity Fine Wine Auction held in April. Front row, from left: Rob Hines, Holly Eaton, Charlotte Roberts and Jane MacDonald. Back row, from left: Alex Klauck, Victoria Parsons, Jonah Schenck, Simon Koop and Ben Kapteyn. Not pictured: Sonya Verma and Zeynep Ceri.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of Brock University Applied Grape and Wine Science (OEVI) students have won the hearts of wine lovers while supporting a good cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":101170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9794,41,1],"tags":[182,61,11725,1657,732,14386,14390,6092,550,2359],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101155"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101560,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101155\/revisions\/101560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}