Cal Poly receives $1.2 million donation for planned Center for Wine and Viticulture

Cal Poly has received a $1.2 million donation from a Central Valley couple for the creation of a viticulture lab that would be part of a new commercial-grade, bonded winery and learning facility on campus.

Cal Poly alumni Troy and Basia Gillespie — who farm almonds, prunes, raisins and wine grapes in Madera County — made the gift to help pay for a learning lab at the university’s planned Center for Wine and Viticulture, university officials announced Monday.

Cal Poly aims to build the multimillion-dollar, 40,000-square-foot center in the next couple of years to provide students with a comprehensive education in the wine and viticulture industries, including vineyard production, wine marketing and distribution.

The university is in the midst of designing the center and the fundraising campaign to pay for it, seeking outside donations to help cover costs.

In addition to the Gillespies, other donors include Jerry Lohr of J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines and retired Professor Emeritus Paul Fountain, who gave $250,000 that will go toward improvements to the teaching vineyard. Lohr also serves as an adviser to the program.

Cal Poly officials said they couldn’t disclose how much Lohr has given to the planned center because a disclosure agreement isn’t in place; however, they noted he has contributed both money and equipment.

The exact cost of the center isn’t known yet, according to university officials.

The commercial-grade, bonded winery and learning facility will have crush, fermentation, bottling and barrel rooms, as well as teaching and meeting facilities. Officials also envision commercial and catering kitchens.

Lab work will include sensory, enology and viticulture training.

The plan is to increase bottling of Cal Poly wines and open a tasting room to the public.

“We will soon have a world-class facility for teaching the next generation of wine professionals,” Andrew Thulin, dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, said in a statement.

Cal Poly’s wine and viticulture program has 271 undergraduate students working toward their bachelor’s degree, according to the university.

The new facility would add to the university’s existing 14-acre teaching and commercial vineyard on campus that produces chardonnay, pinot noir, syrah and tempranillo grapes.

Cal Poly wine currently is produced at Orcutt Road Cellars.

The Gillespies met at Cal Poly while studying business administration in the 1980s and have been married for 30 years.

They have a daughter, Courtney, who’s a wine and viticulture senior at Cal Poly. Their son, Austin, is studying business at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

“We know the value of viticulture and want to invest in its future because it is so important that students go down that path,” said Troy Gillespie in a statement. “You need good, quality grapes to make good wine, and Cal Poly’s hands-on style of teaching is invaluable to the future of the industry.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Cal Poly receives $1.2 million donation for planned Center for Wine and Viticulture."