Dive Brief:
- The University of Missouri-Columbia plans to open a teaching winery for students. The goal is produce some 2,000 cases of wine per year.
- The school has already raised half of the $3 million it needs to build the facility, and is seeking state assistance for the remainder.
- Plans call for courses in wine making and bottling. Later stages of the plan will involve building additional research and educational facilities related to wine and food.
Dive Insight:
We love the University of Missouri-Columbia. It's home to the first journalism school in the nation and it's our alma mater. But we're a little wary of this idea. The town of Columbia crawls with journalism students, working journalists and alumni of the journalism school. And our experience is that wine and journalists don't mix well. Trust us on this.
Journalists aside, the winery should provide a capable nest for nurturing new generations of wine industry professionals.