This Utah university could soon be gifted a vineyard — with hopes to transform it into a new agriculture campus

It might seem like an odd pairing, but the rusty red soil of southern Utah’s high deserts is perfect for growing the kind of grapes needed to make fine wine.

It’s so particularly complimentary that a vineyard owner just outside of St. George can see Utah one day becoming known for its grape and wine varieties.

So Mark Bold is taking a major step to make his vision a reality.

He’s in discussions now to donate his 15-acre vineyard property to Utah State University to become a new hands-on extension campus — a first-of-its-kind endeavor for the state where future agriculture students could get to the root of the viticulture (or grape cultivation) business.

“It’s slowly coming together,” he said.

The university has taken initial action to accept the gift, with unanimous sign-off in September from its board of trustees; the deal is not yet finalized, with that expected early this year.

But the school will notably stay out of the wine-making business — focusing only on cultivating the grapes to help students learn how to run a successful vineyard operation.

“The university will not be involved in production of wine,” confirmed school spokesperson Amanda DeRito in a statement.

There’s nothing that forbids USU from working directly with alcohol, even as a public university funded by the state, according to the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services. But that arena of Utah law is notoriously complicated.

If USU were to produce wine, it would have to get a manufacturing license. And if it then wanted to sell the wine it produced, it would also need a package agency contract approved by the state, said DABS spokesperson Michelle Schmitt.

Utah law has a small loophole to allow alcoholic beverages on campuses only if it’s “part of the curriculum.” Otherwise, booze is banned, with USU’s policies specifically noting that it is a dry campus.

As such, Bold and his business partner, John Delaney, will maintain control of the adjoining five acres next to the vineyard in Dammeron Valley, where they operate Bold & Delaney Winery. That uses the grapes grown on the land to create crisp sauvignon blancs and juicy pinot noirs.

The university will manage the vineyard and would still be able to sell the grapes to the winery to continue producing its varietals. Any extra grapes — “which there are expected to be” — can also be sold to other nearby vineyards, noted USU Vice President for Finance Dave Cowley, to help cover expenses.

But the point of the university taking over the land, Cowley said, is education. It will be added to the school’s many campuses across the state, beyond the main one in Logan.

“This will be an opportunity to be a demonstration farm for the public,” he said during the board of trustees meeting where it was initially approved. “There will also be water efficiency and sustainable agriculture practices that will be happening on this property.”

And in the future, the school says it could offer an academic degree in viticulture. Viniculture, which is closely related, is specifically growing grapes for wine.

“Other institutions have that,” Cowley said.

“Well,” he added with a smile, “those outside of Utah do.”

Teaching about grapes and sustainability

Already, USU has been trying to support vineyard expansion in southern Utah.

University faculty have partnered with grape growers in the region to form the Utah Viticulture Association. USU supports those farmers by helping them apply for grants and conducting research, including trialing different varieties of the water-friendly crop to determine the most favorable growing conditions.

One student is also studying how to stop a bacterial disease that impacts grapevines.

And together, the university and local vineyard owners submitted a federal petition last year for the area in southwest Utah to become Utah’s first officially designated American Viticultural Area. That hasn’t been formally approved yet, but Bold said it would mean getting recognized for being a quality wine-producing region — like many of the famous vineyards in California already advertise on their labels.

Bold said many people don’t realize that southern Utah is on the same geographic latitude as California’s central coast, as well as Spain, Italy and Greece, which produce some of the world’s best and most renowned wines.

That’s partly because of the state’s strict alcohol culture, Bold said, and its focus on other crops.

The top crop in Utah — in terms of what’s most often grown and considered most valuable — is hay, including alfalfa. That covers about 60% of the cropland in the state; production was valued at $435 million in 2023, according to a report from USU.

Alfalfa also uses the majority, at roughly 68%, of Utah’s water diverted for agriculture, University of Utah research found.

It is a notoriously water-hungry crop, Bold said. And he believes that makes it unsustainable for the desert state.

Grapes, on the other hand, are watered through a drip system, Bold said. That delivers water directly to a plant’s root, so there’s less runoff and evaporation.

Studies show that can save up to 50% of the water that traditional sprinkler systems use and up to 80% of the water used in other irrigation methods.

Bold said his vineyard “uses about half or less of the water required for alfalfa.”

“It’s more sustainable and creates a cash crop,” he added.

It’s why he’s so passionate about teaching the next generation of farmers and expanding vineyards in the state. He sees grapes as a more viable future for Utah agriculture.

“Viticulture is a science and an art,” Bold said.

USU’s newly named President Brad Mortensen said in a recent Salt Lake Tribune interview that he wants the school to be the driver in developing new water-sustainability projects.

Mortensen also grew up on a farm, where his family mainly produced alfalfa and barley and where he said he saw firsthand how much water was wasted.

“There are other technologies and practices we can use, and water is such a valuable resource,” the president noted. “Families that are spread all across Utah might not be aware of the technology or the grants or other stuff that might be available — stuff that’s being developed here — and that we can have that impact.”

The vineyard campus will be focused on water conservation and sustainable agriculture as a major education and research outcome, which was specifically outlined in the initial resolution signed by USU’s board of trustees.

‘A legacy issue’

When Latter-day Saint pioneers fled to what is now Utah in the early 1800s, one of the first things they started planting — with the critical help of the Indigenous peoples here — was fruit.

It became a significant part of the state’s agriculture industry, with sprawling cherry, apple and peach orchards. Some still remain, but development has eaten away at them.

“Before urban expansion,” one USU study says, Washington County had been a major fruit producer. Bold wants to regrow that agricultural heritage.

“It’s a legacy issue,” Bold said.

That heritage includes Latter-day Saint church leader Brigham Young’s 1861 directive to 30 Swiss families (and experts in winemaking) to start the Dixie Wine Mission in southern Utah, which is described on Bold & Delaney Winery’s website.

The wine they produced was mostly used for sacrament, and the business flourished for years until The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints switched to water for its ceremonies in 1892.

When Bold began his own winemaking venture in 2013, with 5,000 vines on 5 acres, he and his wife, Mary, wanted a place out of eyesight of the freeway, so no one could see if it didn’t work out, he has joked. But that “foolish experiment” turned into an expanding enterprise, adding more and more land with time.

The pioneers were right to plant here, he has said, pointing to the volcano-enriched soil and a climate that’s toasty during the day and cool by the evening.

“What the grapes need is a daily shift from high temperatures to low temperatures,” he previously told USU. “… It lets the grapes calm down from all that sun and sugar-making, lets them sort of quiet down before they start the next day. That helps with the sugar-acid balance.”

Mary, who earned an economics degree at USU, has also since learned that family on her mother’s side ran one of the early 1800s vineyards in southern Utah, near Silver Reef.

Now, they want to see more of the land returned to farm use and preserved that way.

“I want to keep it out of the hands of developers and becoming a ton of little houses,” Bold said.

Budget cut concerns

Bold said he grew concerned about USU’s future during the massive budget cuts state lawmakers imposed on Utah’s public higher education institutions last year.

Overall, $60.5 million was slashed, with USU needing to come up with $12.6 million. Schools were directed to cut money and reallocate it to high-wage, high-demand jobs, like business.

Bold worried that meant USU would pivot away from agriculture, and, in part, it did in its initial draft. The Legislature demanded the school update its proposal to focus more on its land-grant mission. But despite doing so, lawmakers still haven’t fully approved the school’s plans.

President Mortensen said he wants to ensure that agriculture is a major push for the school with an Aggie mascot and 30 statewide locations, including many in southern Utah.

It’s close to having 31 now, with the anticipated addition of the vineyard. Bold is also hoping to set up an endowment to help keep the programs there well-funded. And he will also continue to be involved directly with teaching others how to run their operations.

Both Mortensen and Bold hope that’s something everyone can “cheers” when it’s finalized — with or without a glass of locally made wine.

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