Rob:  While the number of farms around the country is shrinking, in Oklahoma it's a different story.  Small- to mid-sized farms are on the increase here, due in great part to specialty crops like grapes.  Joining me now in the studio is our Russ Jowell.
Russ:  Well Rob, among the many agricultural sectors here in Oklahoma, winemaking is perhaps one of the least known but fastest growing among them.  But as any winemaker will tell you, it takes much more than squeezing grapes to make a fine wine.  Skills that Redlands Community College is hoping to impart on Oklahoma growers.
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Russ:  Sunday morning college classes are usually not the most popular, but there's one at Redlands Community College that's drawing students of all ages from every corner of the state.  It's Viticulture One, which is the scientific name for Winemaking.
Andrew Snyder:  We're in an area where we can grow quality grapes that will make quality wine.
Russ:  The Viticulture professor, Andrew Snyder, teaches the class and says winemaking in Oklahoma is nothing new.
Andrew:  Winemaking in Oklahoma is actually a tradition that goes back to the turn of the century if not longer. You know prior to prohibition we had a great amount of grapes here in the state. The original state song includes the line 'where the fruit hangs heavy on the vine,' and so it was important enough to be included in our original state song prior to the Roger's and Hammerstein's version.
Russ:  And Andrew's goal with the course is to give his students the necessary knowledge to carry on this Epicurean tradition.
Andrew:  We take that responsibility very seriously, we use state of the art textbooks, we have a 46 variety research vineyard where the students get their hands dirty, then of course we've got the college winery where they're turning the grapes that we harvest into wine.
Russ:  According to Andrew, winemaking takes more than just grapes and juice, it is in fact, a growing industry that offers a unique entrepreneurial opportunity for those willing to take the chance, among them are Oklahoma City's Jeff Despain.
Jeff Despain:  The more and more people I talk to it seems like they are getting a lot more excitement behind the industry and a lot more people are really interested in what I'm doing and are really interested in coming out and helping and getting their hands on and figuring out how to do it and so it's very cool to kind of be on the front end of this whole industry.
Andrew:  We've got entrepreneurs turning a portion of their land into vineyards and then harvesting those grapes and then getting those grapes into the bottle, producing a made in Oklahoma product that gives us excise taxes, sales taxes, employs people, and benefits the citizens of the state.
Russ:  A gourmet tradition that's good for Oklahoma.
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