No prior wine knowledge is required. (120 lessons)

From Your First Understanding of Wine to the Future of Alternative Wine Production

The European Wine Academy’s Associate Degree in Organic, Biodynamic & Alternative Viticulture and Winemaking is designed for students who want a complete introduction to wine while progressing towards a specialist understanding of the rapidly developing world of alternative wine production.

Unlike the specialist 80-lesson Diploma, no previous knowledge of wine is assumed. Students begin by developing a concise but academically sound foundation in wine, grapes, viticulture, winemaking and wine tasting. They then progress into organic, biodynamic, sustainable, regenerative and alternative approaches to grape growing and winemaking.

The result is a programme that takes the student from:

“What is wine?”

through:

“How is wine produced?”

to:

“How can we produce wine differently?”

A Complete Introduction to Wine — with a Different Destination

The first stage introduces the student to the essentials of viticulture: the grapevine, soils, climate, terroir, cultivars, rootstocks, vineyard establishment, pruning, canopy management, irrigation, nutrition, harvesting and the relationship between vineyard conditions and grape quality.

The programme then introduces the foundations of winemaking, including grape composition, crushing, pressing, fermentation, yeast, red and white winemaking, rosé, sparkling wine, maturation, clarification, filtration, stabilisation and bottling.

These foundations are deliberately concise. The purpose is not to reproduce a conventional 80-lesson viticulture or oenology course, but to give students the knowledge needed to understand the specialist material that follows.

The Course Then Broadens the Student’s Perspective

Once the essential foundations have been established, students are introduced to the wider developments that are shaping contemporary viticulture and wine production.

The programme examines how modern producers are responding to environmental pressures, changing consumer expectations, evolving production philosophies and the search for greater resilience and authenticity. Students encounter a range of contemporary approaches to vineyard and winery management and develop an informed understanding of how these approaches can influence the character, quality and identity of wine.

Rather than concentrating on individual techniques, the course encourages students to consider the relationships between environment, production decisions, wine style and sustainability.

The student therefore moves beyond learning simply how wine is made and begins to understand why the wine industry is changing, what motivates those changes, and how different approaches may shape the wines of the future.

Why Choose This Associate Degree at EWA?

• No previous wine qualification required: The programme provides the essential foundations needed to understand wine and its production.
• A clear progression: Move from wine fundamentals to viticulture, winemaking and then specialist alternative production.
• Organic and biodynamic viticulture: Understand the principles, practical management, certification and regulation.
• Natural and low-intervention wine: Explore spontaneous fermentation, indigenous yeasts, reduced sulphur, microbiological stability and the debates surrounding natural wine.
• Climate-conscious production: Examine drought, heat, disease pressure, soil degradation and climate adaptation.
• PIWI and future cultivars: Understand how disease-resistant cultivars may change vineyard management and reduce crop-protection requirements.
• Wine from alternative production systems: Connect vineyard decisions directly with fermentation, wine chemistry, sensory characteristics and finished wine.
• Global and practical perspective: Use vineyard and winery case studies to examine how different approaches operate under different climates and market conditions.

Who Should Enrol?

This AD is particularly suitable for students beginning their formal wine education, wine enthusiasts seeking a substantial academic qualification, hospitality professionals, aspiring sommeliers, wine retailers, wine educators, entrepreneurs and people considering a career in sustainable or alternative wine production.

It is the appropriate choice for someone who says:

“I am interested in wine, but I want to understand the whole production process and, especially, where organic, biodynamic, natural and alternative wine fits into the future of the industry.”

120 Lessons — From Wine Fundamentals to Alternative Production

The programme progresses through four broad stages:

Part I — Foundations of Wine, Viticulture & Wine Tasting

Part II — Sustainable, Organic, Biodynamic & Alternative Viticulture

Part III — Foundations of Winemaking

Part IV — Organic, Biodynamic, Natural & Alternative Winemaking

The result is a complete entry-level Associate Degree with a specialist destination, rather than a conventional wine course with a few sustainability lessons added at the end.