Club holds competition to prune wine vines

By Maria Miranda
The Collegian

High school students with pruning shears dominated Fresno State’s vineyard Saturday as the viticulture club hosted its annual vine pruning contest.

The 54 Future Farmers of America students came from all over the state to participate in the contest which consisted of a written test as well as the pruning of nine vines.

“It’s a really great opportunity for the students,” said Dan Rotlisberger, a viticulture major as well as chairman of the event. “Students can see what Fresno State is all about.”

Rotlisberger added that since Fresno State is the first university to have a licensed, commercial winery on campus, the students are able to receive useful knowledge about viticulture, or the study of growing grapes.

The contest begins with the contestants taking a 45-minute written test first before heading out to the vineyard. The test involves material from a well-known viticulture book.

The students are then broken up into three groups which rotate through three different pruning stations. The students are expected to trim the vines according to the grape type.

The idea is to maintain the vines so there isn’t any overgrowth which could impede the growing cycle, Rotlisberger said.

At each station the students are judged by Fresno State alumni who work in the vineyard industry.

Nick Blom, a judge and a Fresno State alumnus from Modesto, said the contest gives the students the chance to see different varieties of vines since the Valley has such diversity.

“It gives students the opportunity to see something that is still a major part of the state,” Blom said of the vineyard industry.

For the high school students, the contest is a learning experience and a way to meet new people, but a competition nonetheless.

“It’s a challenge to see who’s better at what they do,” said Dusten Barcus, a senior at Fowler High School.

Robert Sholoer, a sophomore at Madera High School, said the main purpose is to see who can be the most competitive and the best at pruning. His hope is to become a “true pruner” which is someone who not only knows how to prune but how to raise vines.

As for the viticulture club, the event is also a way to enlist new Fresno State students.

“This event is especially important for the viticulture club and viticulture as a whole since we can talk to students about the college,” said Rotlisberger, who won the contest in high school and then decided to attend Fresno State. “It’s a great recruitment tool.”

The individual winners as well as the winning schools are given prize ribbons and plaques. Bahco Pruning Shears also donated pruning tools to be distributed among the winners.

The pruning competition is among several events held by both the Viticulture and Enology department.

The Central Coast Viticulture and Enology Issues Conference will be held in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 23 and 24. Also coming up in Yosemite will be the the Fresno State Wienmaster's Weekend on March 3, 4 and 5, and the International Wine Microbiology Conference on April 4th and 5th.

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