Cal Poly’s upcoming JUSTIN and J. LOHR Center for Wine and Viticulture is $5 million away from its $20 million fundraising goal, thanks to Cooperages 1912 and the Boswell family. Their $250,000 donation was announced in early June 2019.
The family-owned company contributed to Cal Poly’s wine education in the past by donating barrels and consulting on barrel experiments, Elizabeth Van Emst said according to a news release to Cal Poly College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES). Van Emst is the general manager of Cooperages 1912.
“The donation will provide students the opportunity to learn more fully how barrels can elevate the wine and this hands-on experience will be an advantage as they graduate and secure jobs in wineries around the world,” Van Emst said in the release.
The anticipated addition to Cal Poly CAFES features a 5,000-case bonded, 15,600-square-foot winery — complete with a fermentation hall, bottling room, barrel rooms, and a research lab. Alongside the winery will be a 12,000-square-foot Grange Hall with viticulture and enology labs as well as lecture and reception areas, offices for faculty and students alike, and an events hall to allow the community to gather together.
Talk of the JUSTIN and J. LOHR Center for Wine and Viticulture began in Spring 2018, with a projected start of construction set for Summer 2018. The winery was dedicated to JUSTIN and J.LOHR after JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery owners Lynda and Stewart Resnick donated $2.5 million and Jerry Lohr of J.Lohr Vineyards also donated $2.5 million for the center
After construction was pushed back to 2019, the winery is set to complete by late Summer 2020 with the Grange Hall following closely behind.
Cal Poly CAFES created a website to keep up-to-date on the fundraising progress of the project, which includes the amount of money raised, as well as live video and a time lapse of the current construction.