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Wine production is a daunting task.

Every step from planting and harvesting grapes to barreling and aging fruits to bottling wine requires specialized skills and knowledge. However, many who do it see only one step at a time and rarely enjoy the fruits of their work.

The program partnership between Linfield University’s Chemeketa Community College and a group of Latin wine experts aims to change that.

AHIVOY, which means “here I go” in Spanish and stands for Asociación Hispana de la Industria del Vino en Oregon y Comunidad, provides vineyard workers with 17 weeks of professional training and all wine education. increase.

“We need to support our community, which includes everyone in that community, especially those who do all the work,” said Chemeketa’s new AHIVOY board member, instructor. Bryan Berenguer, chair of the Vineyard Management Program, said.

This program invites “vineyard managers”. This is the way AHIVOY likes to recognize people working in the vineyards. I spend 17 weeks, one day a week, in the classroom and in the field. They learn everything from vineyard management to winemaking, grape science and wine tasting. Finally, they graduate with a certificate from AHIVOY and the option to claim two Continuing Education credits.

Students receive a reward to participate. Applicants are eligible for a scholarship, including a $ 15 per hour scholarship for the time spent in the classroom, six hours a day every Wednesday. Scholarships are intended to cover the income that participants lose by missing a day’s work.

Growing industry skills

For Sam Parra, co-chair of AHIVOY’s board and founder of PARRAWine Co., this program is not a way out of the wine industry, but a way to get over it.

“We don’t provide education to change careers,” Parra said. “But we provide education to the backbone of the industry and rarely get media coverage, appreciation, or recognition.”

Para grew up in the wine industry as a grandson of vineyard workers who came to the United States through the Brasero project, a diplomatic agreement that allowed workers from Mexico to work on US farms on short-term contracts in the 1940s.

As a child, Para was encouraged to pursue higher education or learn non-agricultural trade. His grandfather told him that farming was hard, and it made a sacrifice.

“Believe me, you don’t want to do this for the rest of your life,” Para remembers his grandfather telling him.

But wine was his destiny.

Para stayed in the industry and currently owns a winery. His current goal is to help vineyard managers advance their careers.

“Many vineyard managers don’t know what happens after the grapes are harvested,” Para said.

Learn something new

Jose Garcia is also thanks to AHIVOY.

Garcia was part of AHIVOY’s latest cohort. He graduated in April. He already had 35 years of hands-on knowledge under his belt working at The Eyrie Vineyards and was promoted to vineyard manager. He didn’t know what to learn further.

But he said he was always trying to improve his work. So when his boss, Eyrie Vineyards owner / wine maker Jason Letts, applied for AHIVOY, Garcia seized the opportunity.

“Honestly, I already knew much of what they taught me,” Garcia said in a Spanish interview. “But there is always something to learn.”

He learned, for example, to leave space between the canes to allow airflow and prevent mold. He learned how to prun the vines so that the vines do not dry out.

His expertise is oozing out. On a recent hot summer day, Garcia pruned the leaves to expose the grapes and talked about each step of the grape life cycle all the time.

After spending 35 years in the vineyard, he can identify vines by individual plant as well as by species. Some of the oldest in the state are 50 years old. He shows to those who ask where they grow and how new vines grow from old roots.

Garcia said his boss now completely trusts him. He doesn’t have to be told what to do. He can manage himself and his team.

He said the biggest thing he got was a network of friends and colleagues he could count on right now.

“We are still talking,” he said of his classmates.

They often meet to send texts to each other on industry questions and exchange stories and notes.

Opportunity for improvement

The first three semesters of the program were taught primarily in English, but Garcia said it was a bit of a barrier.

He speaks and understands English well, but has had a hard time engaging in some of the more technical lessons in English. He noticed that his classmates were also withdrawn.

“I have never been to school,” Garcia said. “I came here for work. Little [English] I learned at my brother’s house. “

Garcia said she wanted the class to be more bilingual.

That is the barrier that AHIVOY recognizes. According to the website, this program aims to immerse you in English. But they started offering more Spanish translations, or bilingual classes, last year, Berenger said.

The next cohort will take classes in both languages.

The program is also mainly for men. The entire 2022 cohort was male. That’s also what AHIVOY wants to change, said De Anna Ornelas, president.

The ultimate goal of the program, and the most common outcome, is to give graduates the knowledge they need to be confident in their work, Ornelas said. That is the whole spirit of using a “vineyard keeper”.

“People don’t understand how important they are,” Ornelas said. “This is a craft. This is something you have to be skilled at. [Grapes] It is a very delicate and precious fruit. The wine story begins in their hands. “

And the hand tells the story. Garcia’s hands are dry and weathered. Worker’s hand, he said. He proudly displays them.

He said these hands make good wine.