Spring Break
CSU hires new 'wine guy'
Professor will educate students about wine making
Bijah Gibson
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: News
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Menke, whose official title is associate professor of Enology in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, began working for CSU University on Feb. 1.
Menke is currently based at CSU's Western Colorado Research Center in Grand Junction. Although he has only been there a short while, Menke sees a lot of potential in the Colorado wine industry.
"It's on the right track and producing the right wines, but the purpose needs to be solidified and we need to focus more on quality control," Menke said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Working as an enologist for CSU also brings with it an unofficial title, that of State Enologist.
Much of Menke's work will involve dealing with Colorado wine producers and helping them with the technical and chemical aspects of wine production. One of his first projects will be to conduct a survey of Colorado's wineries.
"I'll be traveling around to each winery to see where they are, where they're going, and what kind of research they want done," Menke said.
Menke also said he will be helping those new to the industry to get started on the right foot with sound business plans for their wineries.
"Start-ups have been one of my specialties," Menke said.
Menke's qualifications for the job of CSU enologist come from years of experience in the field.
He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wyoming.
His post-doctoral work took place in Arizona, where he studied the effects of Pierce's Disease, a disease that has a severe effect on grape crops.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Craig Hawley
posted 3/14/08 @ 7:18 AM MST
This should be an interesting program. For my Step Sons Birthday I took he and his fiancee and my wife and mother-in-law for an entire day of wine tasting. (Continued…)
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