Sonoma County is home to some of the worlds finest wine selections, and our county has some of the best conditions for the cultivation of grapes. As a result, people come from all around the world to search for different kinds of wines from the area. With over 400 unique wineries in the county, it is no surprise that Sonoma State has one of the best Wine Business Administration programs in the country. When it comes to wine on campus, students have the ability to access the Wine Spectator building and take a look at the living and growing grape vines that line up outside of the building. However, do students have the ability to actually enjoy and learn about the precious fruits of our land and truly experience the wines that come from a result of our location? Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, wine on-campus has been a difficulty to find. However in the near future, our Sonoma County wines will become something for students to enjoy, learn about, and have access to with the Wine Club on-campus.

Like most clubs on campus, The Wine Club struggled with activity and maintaining numbers throughout the pandemic. However, now that students are back on campus and student/ club life has been building up again, the Wine Club is now holding meetings for any student or faculty member on the final Wednesday of every month. Food and Wine are provided at meetings, and they will offer mostly red wines from various Sonoma wineries with a handful of different foods to create a basic palette for students. Representatives from different wineries in Sonoma County come to show off their wines, and donate bottles to the club, making the wine pairing experience something accessible and easy for students to attend at a price that makes sense for students. 

When asked about her goals, the president of the Wine Club and senior on campus, Caroline Evans mentioned that she wants, “to educate people of SSU about the wonders of wine and its beautiful diversity. Even if you aren’t twenty-one, you can still come to meetings to smell and learn about different wines, and also network and meet some important people in the field.” She was excited for the club to be holding in person events and is happy to meet new people interested in the field.

The first Wine representatives will be from Viansa Wine and Tasting, a local winery founded in 1990, named after Vicky and Sam Sebastiani. Since all bottles are generously donated to the school, the wine club does not know exactly what is going to be offered until the days of the tastings, but they are expecting a mixture of mostly red wines and a variety of Italian wines.

The Sebastiani family first migrated from Italy to America in 1880 and landed in Sonoma County shortly thereafter. His knowledge of wine would later turn into a wine dynasty and one of the only alcoholic distributors during the prohibition era that stayed open. Over a century later Chris Sebastiani, the fourth generation and representative of Viansa will be presenting more about his family history and providing more information about the winery all while literally providing the fruits from their hard labor during Wine Club meetings.

Another family-owned wine conglomerate that will be presenting for the Wine Club in November is Gallo, who now own over a dozen wineries in California and Washington. They will be coming to campus to not only present wine and other products, but to explain some of the roles they need to be filled within their wineries. With one of the best Wine business programs in the country, it is no surprise that Gallo is in search of SSU students and those interested in Wine culture or Wine business. 

All Wine Club events will take place on the final Wednesday of each month in the Bennet Valley Room on the second floor of the Student Center. There will be a 5$ entry fee at the door, and all proceeds will go to the food provided at each event and to the budget of the club. The more people to show interest means the higher likelihood of the club being able to travel to different wineries in the upcoming future. If students are interested in wine, wine business, or marketing with different local wineries, then the Wine Club will be the perfect fit.