I was disappointed to hear early this week that, as a result of major spending cuts at Stony Brook University, the Center for Wine, Food, and Culture will become inactive at the end of the current semester. Louisa Thomas Hargrave, the founding mother of Long Island wine, will also obviously no longer serve as the program's director.
The Center started in 2004, with a state grant via State Senator Ken LaValle. And, from the fall of 2007 to now, they have offer 40 separate wine tasting classes, including the first Wine and Spirits Education Trust accredited courses on Long Island). They also hosted three international conferences.
Louisa has encouraged the university to keep the website up in the hopes that, down the road, the program can be re-started.
This is a loss for the Long Island wine world, and it certainly leaves a void that is unlikely to be filled in the near term.
I emailed with Louisa a bit and when I asked her what her plans are, she told me simply "I will continue writing. I'm looking forward to planting my vegetable and enjoying life on the East End."
Sorry to hear of another program biting the dust. These cuts have been brutal and so much effort just kind of vanishes into thin air. Glad they can't get to you Lenn ~
Posted by: meg colombo | February 06, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Wow, I never even knew it existed. I went to SUSB from 1987-1989. The whole wine thing hadn't really broken out by then.
Posted by: Sean | February 06, 2009 at 01:06 PM
it is sad. i was just reading over Roman Roth's bio on his grapes of roth page, and its amazing the level of official support for the wine industry in Germany. from his initial 3 year apprenticeship with a wine making cooperative and technical highschool through to getting his Master Winemaker and Cellar Master degrees from the College for Oenology and Viticulture in Weinsberg. Do we even have an well respected college devoted to Oenology and Viticulture? UCDavis and Cornell run those programs and teach those corses, but their in no way entirely devoted to them exclusivly. Its a vast cultural difference.
Posted by: Rowland | February 06, 2009 at 06:58 PM
What a disappointment. The Center had the potential to have great influence not only within the industry but as a strong advocate for Long Island wines. Hopefully "inactive" is the operative word, and when economic conditions improve, it can be re-activated.
Posted by: Jay Schneider | February 06, 2009 at 09:36 PM
Very sad news... Though it does serve as a fine cautionary tale on these initiatives, as I've warned many in the past, that projects like this simply should *never* have more than a small percent of their operating income derived from fickle state/federal funding sources.
Posted by: paul thomas | February 09, 2009 at 10:45 AM