英语访谈节目:华盛顿州一社区大学开创制葡萄酒专业

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, higher education, jobs, and, yes, fine wine.

Leaders in business and politics are increasingly looking to community colleges to help train students and, in some cases, even connect them directly with potential employers.

Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters has a story about the unusual path that one college in Washington state is taking.

JOHN TULENKO: The 2012 Seattle Wine Awards, showcasing the best in Washington state wines.

JOEL BUTLER, wine judge: We have over 700 wineries. And we make some of the best Cabernet, Serrat, Riesling, and Merlot. So, we're one of the top places in the world now for making fine wine.

JOHN TULENKO: One champion receiving three double gold medals was an entry few had ever heard of, College Cellars.

WOMAN: It's very full-bodied, but it's very chocolaty. I like it.

JOHN TULENKO: Made by students learning winemaking at their local community college.

TIM DONAHUE, wine instructor: We entered six wines. And we went six for six.

JOHN TULENKO: Wine instructor Tim Donahue.

TIM DONAHUE: That was the goal from day one. I wanted to teach them how to make good wine. Then we get the medals. And it's like wow, we did it. This happened.

JOHN TULENKO: The wine was made here, 270 miles southeast of Seattle in Walla Walla, Wash., best known for its fertile farmlands, for sweet onions and apples. It was here 12 years that the community college launched its wine school, the first of its kind in the nation.

TIM DONAHUE: So what you want to do is always have a bottle ready to go, because, if you don't, these can drip a little bit.

JOHN TULENKO: The two-year degree program covers everything from grape growing and pressing to barreling, blending and tasting, taught hands on at the college's vineyard.

TIM DONAHUE: It's hard, hard work. A lot of people think it's sitting in the vine, sipping wine. It's not. You're cold. You're wet. You're in a cellar. You're lifting heavy things.

There's a -- definitely a solid blue-collar job.

TYLER TENNYSON, student: I was impressed with how much they're able to cram in to two years.

JOHN TULENKO: The program attracts students from across the country, many of whom, like Tyler Tennyson, come to winemaking from other careers.

TYLER TENNYSON: I was a commercial appraiser. And I got laid off. And so, I called my wife and I said, so I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is, I got laid off. The good news is, we can move to Walla Walla. Six weeks later, I was starting the program and doing a harvest.

JOHN TULENKO: After graduating, Tyler was hired as a cellar master, overseeing all aspects of production at Seven Hills Vintners, a premier winemaker in Walla Walla.

TYLER TENNYSON: I felt totally competent coming out of the program in terms of totally competent to step into a winery and play an active role in winemaking.

JOHN TULENKO: A recent survey of graduates found 80 percent are working in the wine industry as vineyard managers, winemakers, cellar workers, and wine sellers.

Most earn between $25,000 and $55,000 a year. As much as this is a story about winemaking, it's also a story about Walla Walla, a small town like many others that was hit hard, and what happened when the community college decided to play a part in helping to turn things around.

Before making wine, Walla Walla was famous for wheat and other crops that brought prosperity to the valley for more than 100 years. But in the 1990s, free trade agreements flooded the market with cheap imported produce.