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D'Vine Path welcomes expert winemaking instructor

FALLBROOK – D'Vine Path, a vocational education program for adults with disabilities, sits on a private vineyard and ranch. Through agriculture, hospitality, and viticulture training, D'Vine Path teaches the students everything they need to know in order to obtain a job in the future.

This October, D'Vine Path welcomed a new winemaking instructor, Michael Horton. Horton has been making wine since 2008 when he double majored in Wine and Viticulture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and he became the winemaker for Cal Poly Wines. After meeting a friend who worked in the wine industry, Horton was inspired to get involved and learn how to make his own wine.

This decision led Horton all over the world to pursue his winemaking and viticulture endeavors. He has worked making wine and cider in places such as New Zealand, Australia, and Indonesia before moving back to California in 2020. Since returning to California, Horton said he is thankful to be able to continue pursuing his passion of winemaking and informing others about viticulture.

In August 2021, Horton attended the Fallbrook Main Avenue Certified Farmers & Artisan Market where he met students and facilitators from D'Vine Path, and he was determined to get involved in this program and share his knowledge.

"I love the program's objectives because viticulture and winemaking are all about sharing knowledge and developing community," said Horton. "Everyone at D'Vine Path understands and embraces that."

Horton said that he has had great experiences at D'Vine Path teaching students about viticulture and the winemaking process. He plans to continue working with the students and cover topics such as the wine industry and how to get involved.

"No matter the activity, everyone is always just having a blast," he said. "I think everyone has something to learn from the students at D'Vine Path about how to enjoy life."

Recently, Horton has also joined the newly organized Fallbrook Grape Growers Group (FG3), which focuses on bringing the viticulture community in Fallbrook together. While working as the winemaking instructor for D'Vine Path, Horton is also one of the administrators of FG3, along with D'Vine Path Executive Director Lenila Lingad Batali and D'Vine Path board member Tom Olmstead.

According to Batali, Horton's knowledge and expertise have been a welcome addition to the D'Vine Path family since he has had experience working for winemakers all over the world, and the students look forward to his lively presentations every week.

"Michael has been an asset to D'Vine Path, not only in making great wine for us, he has an upbeat and positive relationship with the students," said Batali. "He keeps them engaged with hands-on experiments and facts about winemaking."

Students at D'Vine Path are very grateful for the opportunity to continue expanding their knowledge about viticulture through Horton's teachings.

To get involved or learn more about D'Vine Path and the impacts the program has had on the disabled community in San Diego County, visit https://www.dvinepath.org/.

Submitted by D'Vine Path.

 

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