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[ Metal clanking ]

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[ALLEN GREGORIOS]
So, this is our brand-new rosé

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just released about
two weekends ago.

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[NARRATOR] Allen Gregorios never dreamed
he'd work in the wine industry.

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[ALLEN GREGORIOS]
The Albariño Spanish varietal.

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[NARRATOR] But here in the tasting room
at Elsom Cellars,

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he feels at home.

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[ALLEN GREGORIOS] Even in my family,
Filipino culture,

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there's not that
much influence in wine.

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Mostly spirits, beer.

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But it's crazy now
how much I'm called

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during family,
you know, gatherings,

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or I'm the wine guy
now of the family.

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What it does say
is hand-harvested grapes.

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[NARRATOR] Allen credits
the Northwest Wine Academy

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with helping him
to learn more about the industry

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and advance his career
in the world of wine.

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-Cool. Let’s taste some wines.

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-The one thing that I loved
about those classes

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were how hands-on they were.

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That's one of the one
things with wine,

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especially, like, if you're
learning how to taste,

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being able to go into a
classroom and then being --

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being curated by a sommelier as
well, kind of opens your eyes.

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[NARRATOR] The Northwest Wine Academy
is located on the campus

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of South Seattle College.

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It was established in 2004
and is the only working

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and teaching winery
in western Washington.

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-This is basically the process,

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so we'll let that run
for 10 minutes...

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[NARRATOR] The academy offers
certificates and degrees

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in wine production
and marketing and sales,

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opening doors
for a lot of people

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who never thought they would
end up working in wine.

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[NIHAL WALIMBE] What’s around, mm-hmm,
and, like, the Sangiovese.

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[NARRATOR] Nihal Walimbe grew up in India
and is an international student

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who found his way
to the academy.

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[NIHAL WALIMBE] I’m doing the marketing
and sales and food and wine,

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currently taking classes
like food and wine,

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pairing wines of the world,
and business operations.

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[NARRATOR] Walimbe has big dreams.

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He believes his schooling
will enable him

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to open his own restaurant
someday.

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[NIHAL WALIMBE]
Hopefully work in a restaurant

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as a sommelier
for a couple of years

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and then probably move back home
and open up my own restaurant

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because my interest
is both culinary and wine.

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[NARRATOR] Lenny Rede leads the
culinary side of the academy.

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He's worked in the industry
for several decades

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and has a passion
to help students

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like Walimbe
fulfill their dreams.

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[LENNY REDE] Here we’ve got restaurants
and retailers, importers.

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You know, we're, you know --

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we have graduates that have
come out of the program

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that have started
import companies.

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They're working
for import companies.

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You know, we have people that
are working for distributors

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that have started distributors.

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And again,
a lot of the sommeliers

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I can't walk into a restaurant
in this town

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and not have
one of the graduates, you know,

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went on to graduate
of the program.

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[JOHN DARIN] This is a very
standard procedure.

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[NARRATOR] John Darin is the winemaker
and winemaking instructor.

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He says he has students
of all ages

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and backgrounds
learning about wine.

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[JOHN DARIN] We have a real strong focus
on diversity here.

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We have students
of every imaginable background.

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You can see, you know, we have
students that are international.

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We have students that are,
you know,

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either older or come from,
you know, backgrounds

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that don't necessarily --
aren't classically aligned

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with the winemaking community.

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[NARRATOR] The academy also has
a tasting room that reopened

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in late 2022 after it
shut down during the pandemic.

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This allows the public
to sample its wines

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and give students hands-on
experience in a tasting room.

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[JOHN DARIN] There it is.

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[NARRATOR] And it's not just
the students

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who appreciate the classes
that are offered here.

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The wine industry
recognizes the benefits

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of the academy as well.

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[JOHN DARIN] The program does better,
you know, they do better.

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We are one of the main suppliers
for a lot of the, you know,

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labor coming into, you know,
all of Seattle.

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So a lot of the people
who have gone on

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to be very successful there
did go through this program.

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[JODY ELSOM] Have you been here before?

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[NARRATOR] Back at Elsom Cellars,

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which is a female-owned and led
winery located in SoDo,

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Jody Elsom,
the owner and founder,

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wishes the academy was open
when she went to school.

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She had to commute
from Seattle to Prosser

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when she took classes through
the WSU extension program.

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[JODY ELSOM] They just want
to share that knowledge,

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and they have a passion
for sharing it with everyone.

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So it's been a huge benefit.

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And we see it in our employees.

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They come with a special
passion for the wine

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and an inherent knowledge
that you wouldn't typically see.

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[NARRATOR] Elsom values the
Northwest Wine Academy so much

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she's hired employees
who've taken courses there,

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including her winemaker.

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[REBECCA WEBER

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and there is a lot of passion
for wine in this area.

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We don't have
a lot of vines here,

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but being able to make it
in the city

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and learn about wines
from around the world,

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it's a very global industry.

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[JANESSA BENSON] This is actually
the first wine

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that I ever had the experience
of personally bottling.

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I had no idea that there
was any wine program

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in western Washington,

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and so I had started
looking into it, thinking,

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"I don't want to go
for a full degree."

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I don't ever want to make wine.

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I don't particularly,
at this point in my life,

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want to work full-time.

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So I contacted them and said,
"Can I just take classes?"

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And they were super open
to that.

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[ALLEN GREGORIOS] This is our Mourvèdre.

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[NARRATOR] Gregorios plans
to take more classes

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at the academy
while working at Elsom Cellars

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to earn his AA degree,
along with a wine certificate.

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This will allow him to continue
working in the field

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he's so passionate about.

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-Mix them together, right.

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[NARRATOR] He believes the academy

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is critical to the growth
of wine in Seattle.

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[JOHN DARIN] That’s cool, guys.

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[NARRATOR] Especially for those
with diverse backgrounds

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who want to further their
education in this growing field.

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[ALLEN GREGORIOS

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which is awesome.

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And there's
always been that stigma.

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But, yeah, there's a lot more
people of color -- Asian, Black.

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Everyone's, you know,
starting to get into it,

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which is awesome.

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♪♪

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Watch CityStream,
Tuesday nights at 7,

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on the Seattle Channel

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or find us anytime online,
at seattlechannel.org.

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♪♪