It's wine time for YVCC oenology graduate

SUNNYSIDE, Wash. -- Wine has somehow always been a part of Carolina "Cat" Warwick's life.

She grew up in Grandview down the street from a small Chateau Ste. Michelle-owned winery. And even at a young age, she'd hear her father, who died when she was 17, tell her that every wine has a story.

Then what began as a part-time job in a tasting room turned into a full-fledged passion and career path.

"It's amazing to me how fast my life has changed," says the 31-year-old wife and mother of three who'll graduate Thursday with her associate's degree in winery technology from Yakima Valley Community College. The college's new Vineyard and Winery Technology Program launched in the fall of 2007.

"I'm so in love with what I'm doing," beams Warwick, sitting in Sunnyside's Cream Wine of Yakima, where she puts her schooling to work.

Warwick is the first to earn the winery technology degree from the new program based out of YVCC's Grandview campus and is a member of a graduating class of only three. (The other two, also women, earned the vineyard technology degree.)

"She knew when she walked in the door exactly what she wanted to do," says Trent Ball, chair of YVCC's agriculture department and a viticulture and oenology instructor in the program.

"I think Cat is a very special individual and will be a great winemaker for the industry," adds Ball. "We'll see a lot from her."

But it wasn't that long ago that Warwick's dream of being a winemaker seemed almost impossible.

She began working in the tasting room for Apex Cellars in 2001, where she met winemaker Jean-Claude Beck, whose love for wine was contagious. Warwick moved up to tasting room manager for Apex, but instead of selling wine, she wanted to make it.

She decided she'd need to go to winemaking school, but for the working mom, the prestigious University of California-Davis, or even Washington State University's extension program in the Tri-Cities were out of reach.

"If it wasn't for the YVCC program, I wouldn't have gotten this degree for another 10 years," she says.

Not only is the program close by, its classes are offered in the evening, allowing students like Warwick to work a day job and raise a family.

At the Owen Roe-owned Cream Wine of Yakima -- it's coincidentally housed in the former Apex Cellars facility at which Warwick started out -- she serves as human resources director and inventory manager as well as a part-time oenologist, or winemaker.

"It's the best of both worlds: going to school and going here," says Warwick, who has her own office but it's in the lab where she loves to spend her time.

And after Thursday's graduation, she'll be given even more responsibility at Cream.

"I still need the experience," she says. "But I will be a winemaker, and I'll be a winemaker faster."

* Kim Nowacki can be reached at 509-577-7680 or knowacki@yakimaherald.com.

Carolina "Cat" Warwick

Age: 31.

School: Yakima Valley Community College.

Notable: Warwick is the first person to earn a winery technology degree from YVCC's new Vineyard and Winery Technology Program, which launched in the fall of 2007. She'll graduate with honors.

What's next? Warwick will continue to work for Cream Wine of Yakima in Sunnyside. Someday she'd love to run her own winery. "But that's a big someday," she says with a smile.

When YVCC graduates: 7 p.m. Thursday at Parker Field, the school's baseball stadium, 1000 S. 12th Ave. A reception follows.