Category: Scholarship News

This year, the Orange County Wine Society donated $49,507 in scholarships to the eight academic institutions listed below. This years’ donations raised the total amount of OCWS scholarships awarded since 1981 to over $946,000. 

The scholarship funds come from a variety of sources, including tips at The Courtyard, OCWS Wine Auction, the featured winery program, and judges’ stipend and member donation.   The judges’ stipend donations from the 2024 OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition totaled $3,000, which was given to UC Davis in addition to the standard donation. In 2026, the judges’ stipend donations will go to Napa Valley College. We thank the judges and our members for their support and hard work that made this year’s scholarship funding possible.

We will be attending the scholarship award presentations for Orange Coast College, Napa Valley College, and Allan Hancock College.  Look for photos of the awards ceremonies and our scholarship recipients in a future issue.

Just a friendly reminder that you can make a donation to the OCWS Scholarship Fund anytime.  There are two ways to donate:

1. Mail a check – Complete your check using the same instructions as above, and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS  P.O. Box 11059, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Attn: Scholarship Fund  A donation letter will be sent to you.
2. Donate Online – Logon to your account at ocws.org and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/. You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

Just a friendly reminder that the OCWS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and contributions to our scholarship fund are tax deductible (but please check with your tax expert). It is not too late to make a donation to the OCWS Scholarship Fund in 2024. There are several ways to donate:

1. Bring a check to a holiday event (Dec. 6) – Make your check out to OCWS (please write Scholarship Donation on the memo line and add the name of a specific school, if you want it to go to only one of the schools supported). I will be in attendance at the holiday events and will be happy to accept your donation check. A donation letter will be sent to you.
2. Mail a check – Complete your check using the same instructions as above and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS, P.O. Box 11059, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Attn: Scholarship Fund.  A donation letter will be sent to you.
3. Donate Online – Log on to your account at ocws.org and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/.

You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

—Damian Christian, OCWS Scholarship Chair

OCWS funds scholarships for eight California colleges and universities, including California State Polytechnic University, Pomona or CalPoly Pomona. CalPoly Pomona (CPP) supports California wine making with a beverage program that spans three colleges and includes a campus vineyard, called Horsehill Vineyard, which is a collaborative wine project between CPP and South Coast Winery. The vineyard was planted with clippings provided in 2001 by the late Don Galleon, who served as one of our commercial wine competition judges for many years. Growing and harvesting campus grapes are part of the College of Ag’s plant and soil science majors. The label design for the wine made from these grapes is part of the visual arts in the College of Environmental Design. CPP also teaches wine appreciation, beverage marketing and salesmanship in a group of courses in the Hospitality Management degree at the Collins College. The CPP students are very appreciative of the OCWS support to help make financial ends meet during their studies.

Next month we will be highlighting another one of the colleges/universities supported by the OCWS Scholarship Fund. Just a friendly reminder there is always time to donate to the OCWS Scholarship Fund for 2024. There are two ways to donate:

1. Mail a check – Make your check out to OCWS and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS  PO Box 11059  Costa Mesa, CA 92627  Attn: Scholarship Fund  A donation letter will be sent to you.
2. Donate Online – Logon to your account at ocws.org and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/.

You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

Each year, the OCWS donates thousands of dollars to eight California educational institutions that have enology, viticulture, wine marketing and culinary arts programs. To date, we have donated over $828,000 over the last several decades.

Scholarship funds come from various sources. Since we are in the midst of the OC Fair, I wanted to highlight how our volunteer work in The Courtyard helps the scholarship fund. First, any tips received at The Courtyard counter go directly to the OCWS Scholarship Fund. Additionally, the proceeds from the Featured Winery Program also go to the Scholarship Fund.

The Featured Winery Program was started several years ago by Liz and Lloyd Corbett and has taken off over the past few years, with representatives from numerous award-winning wineries enthusiastically sharing their wines for this worthy cause. In 2023, the program brought in approximately $16,000 for the Scholarship Fund.

In addition to funds from The Courtyard at the OC Fair, we also accept individual donations for the scholarship fund. There is still time to donate to the OCWS Scholarship Fund for 2024, and there are two ways to donate:

Donate Today

1. Mail a check – Make your check out to OCWS and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS O. Box 11059  Costa Mesa, CA 92627  Attn: Scholarship Fund  A donation letter will be sent to you.
2. Donate Online – Log on to your account at ocws.org, and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/ or click here. You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

— By Damian J. Christian

OCWS funds scholarships for eight California colleges and universities, including Allan Hancock College (AHC), which offers multiple degrees and certificates in viticulture, enology, wine and food pairing, and wine business. AHC’s viticulture & enology programs typically has about 120 students per year and has a four-acre “practice” vineyard in Santa Maria. Recently, AHC Winery won Best of Class in the 2024 OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition for their 2022 Pinot Noir Rosé (90 points).

In May, I had the good fortune to attend the 2024 Scholarship Awards Ceremony at AHC. The OCWS scholarship was distributed to three students. and we met with one of them, Jacob Tobin. Jacob became very interested in winemaking after reading the books his mother had from an online wine course during the pandemic and he has graduated with his degree in enology this year. He shared with us that he helped make the 2021 Malbec that earned a Double Gold at last year’s OC Fair Commercial Wine Competition. Jacob (shown in photo) will continue his studies at Fresno State this fall and greatly appreciated the OCWS support.

The 2024 recipients for the OCWS Scholarships at AHC are:

• Paul Heald
• Scott Melton
• Jacob Tobin (pictured)

Next month we will be highlighting another one of the colleges/universities supported by the OCWS Scholarship Fund. Just a friendly reminder there is always time to donate to the OCWS Scholarship Fund for 2024.  There are two ways to donate:

1. Mail a check – Make your check out to OCWS and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS O. Box 11059  Costa Mesa, CA 92627  Attn: Scholarship Fund  A donation letter will be sent to you.
2. Donate Online – Logon to your account at ocws.org and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/ You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

—Damian Christian, OCWS Scholarship Chair

OCWS funds scholarships for eight California colleges and universities including Napa Valley College. Napa Valley College has two locations, one in Napa and a second upper campus in St. Helena. As a community college, they offer the standard two-year associates degree and a one-year wine production certificate. Their Viticulture and Winery Technology (VWT) program is one of the largest in the country with an annual enrollment of 800 to 1,000 students, a five-acre vineyard and a commercial winery.

The certificates in viticulture and winery technology consist of production-oriented courses in viticulture and winemaking. Many of the students at Napa Valley actively work in the wine industry while taking classes. This month students in the wine program are getting ready to bottle their 2023 Sauvignon Blanc. All the wine produced is made from grapes grown on their five-acre vineyard located on the Napa Valley College campus. They produce between 500 and 700 cases annually. You can even join their wine club featuring student-made wines.

Next month we will be highlighting another one of the colleges/universities supported by the OCWS scholarship fund. Just a friendly reminder there is always time to donate to the OCWS Scholarship Fund for 2024.  There are two ways to donate:

1. Mail a check – Make your check out to OCWS and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS O. Box 11059  Costa Mesa, CA 92627  Attn: Scholarship Fund  A donation letter will be sent to you.
2. Donate Online – Logon to your account at ocws.org and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/

You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

—Damian Christian, Scholarship Chair

OCWS funds scholarships for eight California colleges and universities, including Sonoma State University in Santa Rosa. Unlike some of the other institutions we support that focus on viticulture and enology, Sonoma State University focuses on the business side of the wine industry with its Wine Business Institute.

The Wine Business Institute was formed in 1996 as a partnership between the wine industry and the School of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University. WBI offers undergraduate degrees, an MBA and an Executive MBA. The program currently has 85 undergraduate and 55 graduate students. It also offers industry certifications in such areas wine industry finance and accounting, wine business management and wine entrepreneurship.

The program awards about 350 professional certificates each year. For all its degrees, WBI aims to give students real world experience in the wine industry. It also is an official member of the Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Alliance National Center of Excellence. VESTA consists of 17 university and two-year programs across the country with the goal of VESTA of providing students with a foundation of the science, mathematics and technology skills needed for a productive career in the grape and wine industry.

WBI is very excited and appreciative of the OCWS scholarship contributions to their program. They recently invited several OCWS board members to their alumni gathering at Brewery X in Anaheim.

Just a friendly reminder there is always time to donate to the OCWS Scholarship Fund for 2024. There are two ways to donate:

1. Mail a check – Complete your check using the same instructions as above, and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS, P.O. Box 11059, Costa Mesa, CA 92627; Attn: Scholarship Fund.

A donation letter will be sent to you.

2. Donate Online – Log on to your account at OCWS.org and go to the scholarship donation page: OCWS.org/product/scholarship-donations/. You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

—Damian J. Christian, Scholarship Chair

 California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo has a wine and viticulture program in their College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. This program is the largest in the nation and combines the study of cultivating wine grapes with the study of wines, winemaking and the wine business.

 The campus has a 14-acre vineyard for students to practice successful strategies needed to understand all aspects of winemaking in the fertile California coastal region. Students also learn about beverage compliance and understanding the many complex rules and regulations of the industry.

 Many of Cal Poly’s students have gone on to work as winery founders and owners, viticulturists, enologists, production assistants and cellar workers, as well as, many other areas of management and marketing associates.

 The OCWS support of the Cal Poly Program is greatly appreciated and in 2023 the OCWS contributed $5100 to their general scholarship fund in the wine and viticulture program.

 Each month we will be highlighting one of the colleges or universities supported by the OCWS scholarship fund.

Just a friendly reminder there is always time to make a donation to the OCWS Scholarship Fund for 2024. There are two ways to donate:

1.     Mail a check – Complete your check using the same instructions as above, and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS  P.O. Box 11059  Costa Mesa, CA 92627  Attn: Scholarship Fund. A donation letter will be sent to you.

2.     Donate Online – Log on to your account at OCWS.org and go to the scholarship donation page: OCWS.org/product/scholarship-donations/. You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

 –Damian J. Christian, OCWS Scholarship Chair

Just a friendly reminder that it is not too late to make a donation to the OCWS Scholarship Fund in 2023.  There are several ways to donate:

1. Bring a check to a holiday event – Make your check out to OCWS (please write Scholarship Donation on the memo line and add the name of a specific school, if you want it to go to only one of the schools supported). I will be in attendance at the holiday events and will be happy to accept your donation check. A donation letter will be sent to you.
2. Mail a check – Complete your check using the same instructions as above and mail it to the OCWS office at OCWS, P.O. Box 11059 Costa Mesa, CA 92627  Attn: Scholarship Fund  A donation letter will be sent to you.
3. Donate Online – Logon to your account at ocws.org and go to the scholarship donation page: ocws.org/product/scholarship-donations/ You can make your donation online and print a receipt for tax purposes at the same time.

—Damian Christian, OCWS Scholarship Chair