By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Student business teams from and took home top honors at the this month that required them to research and create extensive business plans for a fictitious wine grown and created in Washington state.

A ���سԹ� team, comprised of students Kyle Brunson and Danae Williams, earned the grand prize at the competition for their combined score for their business plan, financial plan and wine label for their wine “Gladiolus Red Mountain Rosé .”

A team from WSU Pullman, comprised of students Crisol Barajas, Sherlane Yuen, Brittany Jacobs, Becca Jainga, Eunjeong Kim, and Justin Walker earned top prize for their financial plan for their wine “Ribbon Pink Ladies Rosé .”

Another team from WSU Pullman also earned “honorable mention” for the overall award for their wine “Colossus Wine,” scoring just 1.5 points below the winning ���سԹ� team. Team members included Ashton Sidebottom, Joy Kam, Annika Roberts, Sam Levora, Ashley Molina, Megan O’Mera.

The competition welcomed student teams from several university campuses, which, in addition to ���سԹ� and WSU Pullman, included Michigan State University, Florida International University, Linfield College and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Insights into business practices for wine

The teams were required to create detailed business and financial plans for their fictitious wine valued at $25-$40, as well as a wine label, all of which they submitted virtually to be judged. A panel of experts ranging from wine experts, to journalists and more, then evaluated each component of the competition and an award was presented to the student team with the best combined score, as well as individual awards for best scores for individual business plan, financial plan and wine label.

The ���سԹ� team designed a rosé comprised of a blend of Syrah and Merlot, that, for their project, was hypothetically grown and created on Red Mountain in the Tri-Cities. The region is known for its great soil, and the wine presented excellent marketability and a great business infrastructure that is already established in the area.

Williams said she and Brunson did extensive research about the cost of the grapes, storage, sales, distribution, and other business and financial components required to successfully run and promote a wine estate. Brunson also sought the help of a friend who works at a local winery to gain information regarding the cost of wine grapes and other production components to get a realistic picture of costs in a working winery.

“The project provided a great introduction into what it really takes to run not only a business, but a wine business, in particular,” Williams said. “It was good to be able to see exactly what all goes into owning a winery. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, but it was incredibly useful for what I will need in the future working for a wine business.”

Career connections

Williams is majoring in wine and beverage business management at ���سԹ�, so the project served as perfect experience and practice for her career trajectory. She is also the recipient of the Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits student scholarship at ���سԹ�.

“My ultimate goal is to own my own winery,” she said. “It was a fun project that provided a lot of great hands-on experience in the wine field.”

For other students pursuing a different area within the business field, the opportunity also provided a great outlet to dive into a real-world project.

Brunson, who is studying business management and administration at ���سԹ� and currently working as an intern out at the Hanford Site in facilities and operations, said the project provided a great opportunity for developing a comprehensive business plan and an ideal introduction for his capstone course he is taking this year.

“It was really rewarding,” he said. “I got to apply all that I have been learning from all my other classes. It provided a great opportunity to really explore what it takes to run a business and the practical aspects of making that business a success.”

For more information on the ���سԹ� wine and beverage business management and hospitality business management programs, visit tricities.wsu.edu/business/undergraduate/wbm and .

By Linda Weiford, WSU News

PULLMAN, Wash. – Jim Harbertson sees through rosé colored glasses.

Finely tuned shades and hues ranging from blush and coral to berry jam. Harbertson, a wine researcher at Washington State University Tri-Cities, has become an expert in the science of pink-esque pretty.

With the rosé wine craze in full bloom and warmer weather helping to catapult its popularity, thanks to the associate professor of enology’s research, you can judge a rosé by its color.

“More than other wine types, color heavily influences consumers’ perceptions of rosé. This makes winemakers particularly mindful of achieving just the right color,” he explained.

Rosé stands apart from other wines in its diversity of hues, shades and tints. Though aroma and flavor are important to consumers, studies say the number one factor is its pinkish charm.

 

Rosé’s color also signifies its style. A light-colored rosé is expected to be a lighter-bodied wine and a darker one to be more full-bodied, said Harbertson, of WSU’s viticulture and enology program.

But nailing down the right color can be tricky. Rosé is made by exposing dark wine-grape skins to the juice for a short time, typically 2-48 hours until it reaches a desired color. The challenge is, that perfect pink lightens during fermenting and then darkens after being bottled, Harbertson said.

“You lose about 60-70 percent of the initial color depending on how much color you start out with,” he said. “Rosé may be easy to drink but it is not easy to make.”

A decade or so ago, rosé was mostly viewed as sweet and cheap. Now considered chic and sophisticated, sales climbed 40 percent in 2017, according to the market researcher Nielson. As more consumers discover pink gems from Washington state, winemakers started turning to Harbertson for scientific advice on how to develop colors more precisely.

They also set forth a guide for winemakers to follow that allows them to predict color changes analytically to achieve that gorgeous shade of ballet-slipper-pink or deep rouge.He and graduate student Caroline Merrell conducted a study by tracking color changes that occur during fermentation and after the rosé is bottled. Published in Catalyst, a journal by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, they found that sulfur dioxide management is an important factor in developing the color of rosé wine. (Go to: ().

“What’s significant is that our study provides tools to winemakers to measure apparent and potential color in their rosé wines. There’s more science and less guesswork involved in the process,” he said.