OSU Alumni Association Muffs Golden Opportunity to Recognize Rising Quality of Ohio Wines

Maybe we could propose a belated New Year’s resolution for the Ohio State University Alumni Association:

“We resolve that when we’ve got a golden opportunity to support Ohio and its residents, we won’t whiff on that golden opportunity.”

Why? Because of the association’s apparent snub of Ohio wines.

The alumni association published a full-page ad on page 60 of its Winter 2017 Ohio State Alumni Magazine touting “The Oval Collection.”

The “Oval Collection” consists of four wines for sale through online ordering (it was five, but one is sold out). The wines range in price from $17 to $50, and the alumni association proclaims they were “produced for Ohio State by some of Napa Valley’s best vintners.”

The juice doesn’t all come from Napa, though. It comes from Sonoma, California; Mendocino, California; and Oregon.

“Uncork a bottle of Ohio State excellence” the web site says. “What better way to celebrate your alma mater and its rich, celebrated heritage than by serving The Oval Collection to fellow alumni, family and friends?” the print ad says.

I don’t know – maybe by offering AT LEAST ONE BOTTLING that comes from Ohio-grown grapes or Ohio-produced wines, perhaps?

How cool would THAT have been?

We think it would have been pretty cool. Maybe even WAY cool. Because if you haven’t tasted a wine grown and produced in Ohio lately, well … you haven’t tasted an Ohio wine.

A missed opportunity, perhaps?

Go Bucks!

6 Comments
  1. Yes, typical move by my alma mater. I was always impressed by the message to the graduates of my daughter’s college choice years ago, “Go forth and set the world on fire.” Unfortunately, I think OSU’s message to alumni is simply stated as “We’ll take your money.”

  2. As the owner of an Award Winning Ohio Winery and winner of Ohio Quality Wine Award I find it rediculous that The Ohio State University did not support the Ohio Wineries and chose to support California Wines.

  3. What is a land-grant university?
    A land-grant college or university is an institution that has been designated by its state legislature or Congress to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862, 1890, and 1994.

    The original mission of these institutions, as set forth in the first Morrill Act, was to teach agriculture, military tactics, and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies so members of the working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education.

    Over the years, land-grant status has implied several types of federal support. The first Morrill Act provided grants in the form of federal lands to each state. The states used the proceeds from selling those federal lands to establish a public institution to fulfill the act’s provisions. At different times money was appropriated through legislation such as the second Morrill Act and the Bankhead-Jones Act, although the funding provisions of these acts are no longer in effect.

    A key component of the land-grant system is the agricultural experiment station program created by the Hatch Act of 1887. The Hatch Act authorized direct payment of federal grant funds to each state to establish an agricultural experiment station in connection with the land-grant institution there. The amount of this appropriation varies from year to year and is determined for each state through a formula based on the number of small farmers there. A major portion of the federal funds must be matched by the state.

    To disseminate information gleaned from the experiment stations’ research, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 created a Cooperative Extension Service associated with each land-grant institution. This act authorized ongoing federal support
    for extension services, using a formula similar to the Hatch Act’s to determine the amount of the appropriation. This act also requires states to provide matching funds in order to receive the federal monies.

    Any entities strength is it’s population. Ohio currently ranks 43 in population growth at 0.67% ( http://worldpopulationreview.com/states/ohio-population/# )

    It takes more than slapping “THE” on the front of it and slapping the Emperor on the back and telling him he looks great.

  4. Kent State University Ashtabula also just released a Kent State collection of wine in December 2017. We partnered with Laurello Vineyards to produce a Riesling and a Cabernet blend. The Riesling is Grand River Valley (Ohio) grown. The red blend had to be sourced from vineyards in another state because of the previous polar vortex winters, but the goal in future years is to have the grapes be Ohio grapes in all of the wines. In addition, our faculty and students from the KSU Viticulture and Enology classes assisted in the production and bottling of these wines.

  5. Great article Wine Buzz! The wine industry in Ohio makes such a huge economic impact on the state. It’s hard to believe that The Ohio State University would be so blind to the quality of wines we produce here. I can only hope that something is in the works to make a change for the next vintage.

  6. I saw this ad in the alumni magazine and would have considered purchasing some wine IF the alumni assoc. had partnered with Ohio Wine growers and makers, how very disappointing.
    Did the Calfornia wine makers make a donation to Ohio State, or possibly were they Ohio State graduates? maybe Ohio State should have made that clear.
    How sad the alumni assoc. did not include a winemaker from Ohio as I am sure many of the people who own wineries and make wine in Ohio have had some sort of association with The Ohio State University

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