(Wines&Vines) - The modern, post-Prohibition wine industry is still less than 50 years old in many states east of the Rockies. For states in the northern tier, where winter temperatures often drop well below -15° F, the industry is closer to 30 years old. Yet today wine is made in all 50 states, due in part to the development of cold-hardy grapes developed at places like the University of Minnesota.

The expansion of the eastern wine industry was reflected in a different way at the annual conference of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture-Eastern Section held July 18-21 in St. Louis. In addition to the researchers, extension advisers, grapegrowers and winemakers that make up the majority of conference attendees, 32 students from 15 universities participated in this year’s meeting of the Eastern Section.

It wasn’t that many years ago that if a young woman or young man wanted to learn how to grow grapes or make wine, the options for a college or university program were limited. The University of California, Davis, and California State University, Fresno, offered degree programs, while most other colleges and universities (including Cornell University) taught only a few courses in their Food Science or Horticulture departments.