VOLU ME 25
ISSUE 8
CHAFFEY
B R E E Z E MONDAY + DECEMBER 8, 2014
FEATURE
ASCC gets a new President
A&E
International Education Week
OPINION
Diss the Season to be Angry
Vineyards grow on the northwest corner Chaffey College at Haven Avenue and Wilson Avenue for Filippi Winery in Rancho Cucamonga.
SPORTS
Troy Ford Q&A
MICHELLE MENES
Cooperative Growth yields fine wine It is no coincidence that two of the oldest and most historical parts of Rancho Cucamonga are Chaffey Community College and vineyards like Filippi Winery. Since the time of the great Greek philosophers, learning and drinking have been paired like cheese and, well, wine. In 2007, Chaffey College approached the Joseph Filippi Winery in Rancho Cucamonga about a community project on campus. The northwest corner of the school consisted of acres of dirt and rocks, and they wanted to make it into something not only beautiful, but find a way to incorporate something that embraced the history of the Cucamonga Valley Region. “The college came to us and they were interested in planting a vineyard,” Joseph Filippi, 60, said. “I jumped on that idea, of course.”
Filippi is the Director of Winemaking, and has been working at Filippi Winery for over 40 years. “They (Chaffey College) provided the land, almost one and a half acres,” Filippi said. “We bought the vines and some other things,” he added. “Toro donated the irrigation, San Bernardino County gave us some dirt to add to the rocky soil, but it’s all native dirt.” In addition, the Cucamonga Water District donated the water used to irrigate the vines. Filippi Winery chose the Alicante Bouschet grape to plant, which is, according to Joseph Filippi, “Is one of the six of seven varieties of grape that actually have red juice.” “We prune it, maintain it and we utilize the grapes right here. We make three different types of wine from
that,” he said. “We make a sweet rose, a dry red, which is a little light, and we make a strong port, 18 percent alcohol.” “We make a single vineyard wine. We use only that grape, it’s vineyard designated, and it’s so close to the winery that we can say its estate bottled wine. It mentions on the label, the Chaffey Vineyard,” Filippi added. At one time, the Cucamonga Valley was the largest grape growing region in the state. As commercial and residential expansion steadily encroached on the large swaths of vines, winemakers and grape farmers needed to change how they grew. What was once cheap land now drew a good price, making it more profitable to develop land, rather than farm it. “There used to be over 30,000 acres here in this area,” Filippi said. “That’s
larger than the amount of vineyards that Napa valley can even plant.” “Our vineyards were started in 1922,” he said. “At one point we owned several hundred acres. Now we have about 50 acres. We don’t own any land.” Instead, they rely on ideas such as the Chaffey College Vineyards to grow their grapes. The Filippi Winery offers wine tours, wine tasting, even a Taco Tuesday night. Chaffey College students receive a five-percent discount with a student ID.
MARK NEVAREZ @SkippinBanks