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From Classroom to Cellar: UC Davis Alumni Return to Share Their Wines

On a warm May evening, more than 20 alumni-affiliated wineries and wine organizations filled the courtyard at the Robert Mondavi Institute for the second annual UC Davis Alumni Wine Showcase. Organized by the Department of Viticulture and Enology, the Cal Aggie Alumni Association, Aggies Uncorked, and the Robert Mondavi Institute, the sold-out event brought graduates back to the place where many of them first learned to read a fermentation curve or build a blend. 

Bananaweizen: The Beer Behind the 2026 Iron Brew Win

Iron Brew is one of those UC Davis traditions that sounds almost too good to be real. Every winter, students in FST 102B Practical Malting and Brewing spend weeks formulating recipes, brewing batches on nanobreweries in the RMI pilot brewery, and competing for the chance to have their beer produced commercially. 

Past winners, including Off the Clock, Caledonian Nights, Mighty Gale Ale, and Brew La-La have gone from campus fermentors to taps at The Gunrock, Sudwerk Brewing Co., and now Dunloe Brewing .