College students under the age of 21 in California will soon be allowed to drink alcohol in class, as long as they are enrolled in a beer brewing or winemaking programme and they refrain from swallowing, underlegislation signed recently by the state’s governor.

The so-called sip and spit law, set to take effect next year, answers concern that some of the nation’s leading enology and viniculture schools are missing a key element. While several states allow minors to sample their alcoholic coursework, California does not.

“Not being able to get started with tasting during school is a big handicap,” said Andrew Waterhouse, a professor of enology at UC Davis, who testified in support of sip and spit at a hearing on the Bill. “It’s our job here to teach them these things.”

At UC Davis, wine production classes have gone without the ability to sample the beverage as it evolves, Waterhouse said. The university has been forced to cater its programme to the underage drinking prohibition by reserving tasting classes for a student’s final semester, when he or she is likely to be at the legal drinking age of 21.

But in the near future students who sample the libations must be at least 18, tasting under the supervision of an instructor and drinking solely “for educational purposes as part of the instruction in a course”.