Source:  Suzanne Stanard, NCSU College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, 7/6/09

The owners of The Cellars at Betty’s Creek have recently proposed to
donate land valued at $16.1 million to North Carolina State University’s
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The initial gift of $1.6
million in sellable lots will allow the creation and funding of an
endowed professorship, an endowed apprenticeship and a North Carolina
Cooperative Extension program endowment. Also included in the proposal
is a suggested 525-acre conservation easement with an estimated value of
$14.5 million.
 
Christopher Collins, John McNeill, and Fred and Nancy Cline, owners of
The Cellars at Betty’s Creek, are known for their ecologically sound and
sustainable business practices in the development process and in wine
production. Their new residential development in the mountains of
Western North Carolina, The Cellars at Betty’s Creek, is an exclusive
600-acre gated community with 33 home sites. Approximately 525 acres are
proposed to be permanently preserved under a conservation easement.
 
With wine production being overseen by Fred and Nancy Cline of Cline
Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in Sonoma, Calif., The Cellars at
Betty’s Creek combines property ownership with a vineyard setting, as
well as private-labeled wines.
 
In recognition of their relationship and in conjunction with the Clines,
Collins and McNeill have established a permanent endowed fund at N.C.
State that will support a professorship, an apprenticeship and a new
Cooperative Extension program, all focused on viticulture and enology.
 
“We want to honor the Cline/Jacuzzi family legacies of producing
upscale, award-winning wines by supporting viticulture and enology work
taking place at a great land-grant university like N.C. State,” said
Collins and McNeill.
 
The endowment fund will establish:
 
- *The Cline Cellars Distinguished Professorship in Viticulture and
Enology*, supporting a preeminent scholar in N.C. State's College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences who contributes to the field of
viticulture and/or enology through applied research and extension programs.
 
- *The Cline Cellars Viticulture/Enology Apprenticeship and Internship
Endowment*, which will fund the activities of an N.C. State graduate
student working in the area of viticulture and/or enology. The position
will include academic training, research on applied problems and a full
semester plus summer internship with industry representatives in
California or Western Europe.
 
- *The Cline Cellars Viticulture, Enology and Horticulture Endowment for
Cooperative Extension*, which will be used to support extension agents
in Jackson and surrounding counties who will work closely with the
distinguished professor and extension specialists in the areas of
viticulture, enology, organic fruits and vegetables, food science, soil
science, crop science, plant pathology and entomology. Extension agents
will provide demonstration projects and conduct field days and other
public educational programs.
 
“We are extremely grateful to the owners of The Cellars at Betty’s Creek
for this generous and forward-thinking contribution to our college, and
by extension of our work, to the entire state of North Carolina,” said
Dr. Johnny C. Wynne, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences. “The new positions and programs made possible by this gift
will have the potential to play a major role in accelerating the growth
of the state’s burgeoning wine and grape industry.”
 
The proposed conservation easement would be managed by the NC
Agricultural Foundation Inc., based in N.C. State's College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences in partnership with the Land Trust for
Little Tennessee.
 
For more information on N.C. State's College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, visit www.cals.ncsu.edu. To learn more about The Cellars at
Betty’s Creek, visit www.TheCellarsatBettysCreek.com.