Brain, Matt  

Mr. Brain is flat out awful. He does not even have a PhD when he pretends to, while acting like a pretentious academic. First of all he teaches WVIT 202, which is a required, survey enology course. Most students in the WVIT major are not enology concentrations, and he teaches the class as if it were a graduate level class. No study guide, no outline, no guidelines for homework. It is basically you having no idea what is going on the whole time, while he will refuse to give you clarification, and you have no textbook to cross reference. Save yourself a ton of stress, and do not take this arrogant, self-centered DBAG.

VVVV completely agree. He thinks he knows everything about wine because he makes some himself...big deal. He gives pop quizzes and his tests are extremely hard even though I studied for hours. He likes to lecture the WHOLE TWO HOURS and does not understand the concept of a break. He is a smart ass and he doesn't make jokes but when he does they aren't funny. He dresses like Andre from "the league".

Let me translate the other 2 previous (highly disrespectful and juvenile) comments for you all in "adult language". I was unprepared for college and when I got to this class my lack of work ethic and study habits caught up with me and I failed. I was not willing to put the time in to study the material which was clearly presented, and I did not open (let alone purchase) the textbook that was assigned. I am a spoiled immature punk and now I am trying to take it out on my professor. I dont have the balls to say it to his face, so now I am trying to make myself feel better by trashing him on this review site. I am a coward, as is plain to see in this example of my poor writing. I have probably dropped out of Cal Poly already, and I will NEVER become a winemaker because I have no initiative or real intelligence. You can find me puking in a gutter downtown on Thursday night if you want to speak more about it. Regards, Immature Cowardly Loser

Matt Brain was an awesome teacher and I learned A LOT about wine. The quarter isn't even over yet but it made me sad that he doesn't have many comments and half of them are not even true. The only time I really had work for WVIT 202 was to study before the tests. Just come to class and study for the tests and you'll be chill.

I wish Matt taught all of my classes. So much better than some of the other teachers in the WVIT program, and incredibly thorough and helpful. He has reasonable grading policies and is willing to discuss your grade with you, and he's accessible outside of class. I would definitely recommend him as a teacher. My favorite professor so far at Poly.

Matt Brain is one of the most insightful teachers at poly and if you can't handle a SURVEY class of enology you probably shouldn't be a wine and viticulture major (@ person below). I'd imagine you're a wine business major and if you want to sell wine you need to know how the product is made. The winemaking world takes a lot of knowledge and hard work and if you can't handle matt then you're missing out on some real usable knowledge and you should stop being lazy and expecting teachers to do all the work for you. Anyway, Brain is an amazing teacher who has the potential to do amazing things for this wine and viticulture program.

Matt teaches upper level winemaking. Going into his class you should have a understanding of chemistry, an interest in wine that goes beyond the classroom, and preferably worked a harvest. For the 202 class mentioned elsewhere, open books and do some research. Get involved and get hands on with the wine. Its theory and its brutal without practical experience. Most WVIT classes are the same and understanding only comes with time and practice. For the upper division 400 series, you should already had an internship and should understand the winemaking process and a knowledge of common issues regarding it. He will not baby you, as should no one else here at college. Hes a great teacher, very approachable, and great to joke around with. Show him you have knowledge of what you're talking about and be involved with the class and he will definitely answer any questions you have. Do the opposite and you might as well just drop out of college.

What else is there to say? Fine person, nothing interesting. Class was meh... Blah, blah, blah... Fine person.