January 24, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cal Poly Wine Festival to benefit New Wine and Viticulture Program

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- The Cal Poly Vines to Wines Club will host the fourth annual Cal Poly Wine Festival, formally known as "An Afternoon Amidst the Oaks," on Saturday, April 29, from 1-4 p.m. The event will be held at the historic Santa Margarita Ranch in Santa Margarita.

The event will feature wine, food, music and art from wineries from all over California as well as local restaurants and caterers. Tickets are $50 per person or $30 for Cal Poly students, staff, and faculty. Proceeds will benefit the Wine and Viticulture Program at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Last year's festival drew over 500 wine enthusiasts, Cal Poly students, and alumni. Seventy wineries from the Napa/Sonoma, Lodi, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara regions were represented. Local restaurants served appetizers while attendees tasted fine wines, bid on silent auction items, and listened to a local jazz band. Cal Poly wines and chocolates were featured.

As a warm-up for the festival, Vines to Wines will also host a golf tournament on Friday, April 28, at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande. Winemakers and the general public are invited to participate. The entry fee is $135 per person and includes a barbecue and silent auction immediately following the tournament.

Weekend packages are available. Packages include golf tournament entry fees for one player and two tickets to Saturday's wine festival for $195, or one golf tournament entry fee and one ticket to the wine festival for only $165.

For more information, visit the event website at www.calpolywinefestival.com. For media requests contact Molly Strobel at (805) 544-5039 or mollycp03@yahoo.com.

About the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture program
The Wine and Viticulture major is based on fundamental and applied sciences, modern agribusiness principles, and appropriate social sciences. It encompasses grape cultivation, enology, and wine business, creating both an interesting and diverse undergraduate opportunity. The curriculum fosters an academic alliance among production agriculture, food science, and agricultural business interests and provides a "vine to glass" academic opportunity. Graduates will gain extensive hands-on experience in all aspects of the wine industry, encompassing viticulture, the complexities of fermentation, and wine business. Students taking advantage of these diverse course offerings will enter industry as competent and experienced employees.

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