Viticulture and Wine Production courses

Viticulture and Wine Production Courses

These are exclusively e-learning (online) courses, Most of these courses are designed for individuals without prior experience in the field.

We have organized these courses into two categories: one for individuals with no prior wine knowledge and another for those with some wine background.

Please note that detailed descriptions of course topics are available upon specific request from genuinely interested individuals. Our courses are designed by experienced wine professionals who know which specific topics are required for that course.

There is a noticeable scarcity of e-learning options for viticulture and wine production/oenology despite the growth in beginner and hobbyist winemakers.

While our goal is to provide professional viticulture and winemaking training, it’s essential to acknowledge that these e-learning courses cannot offer the same level of academic depth as a full-time university degree, where extensive practical work and in-depth theoretical exploration are possible. This limitation is inherent in the e-learning format. Nevertheless, we offer a range of high-quality courses, some on par with university standards and at least as rigorous as those at a Technicon or Polytechnic institution.

Experienced winemakers often mention that their most valuable learning experiences came from hands-on work in vineyards, tasting grapes, managing fermentation, and dealing with practical challenges. Much of the academic knowledge they acquired took a back seat. Our aim is to empower students with the necessary theory and practical skills to confidently pursue professional careers as winemakers and oenologists.

Please note that the courses’ content, structure, and requirements may evolve over time. Ensure to consult our official website for the most up-to-date information on course offerings, schedules, fees, and prerequisites. Additionally, our team is available to assist with any inquiries and to guide prospective students in selecting the most suitable course based on their goals and experience level.

Practical Experience – Practicums (not mandatory!)

Some of our wine production and oenological courses may include optional practicums, contingent on student enrollment (usually requiring a minimum of 12 participants). During these practicums, students gain hands-on experience in various viticultural and winemaking aspects, working in vineyards, cellars, and engaging in lab analysis. These practicums are open to all our wine students and can be attended voluntarily.

The duration of practicums varies based on location and tutor availability. We typically aim to offer two short practicums per year (approximately 3/5 days each), one in spring and one in late autumn, along with a two-week practicum during the harvest period (September/October in the Northern hemisphere and February in the Southern hemisphere). Short practicums are scheduled to fit into weekends.

Costs depend on factors such as location, duration, and accommodation. Our goal is to include accommodation where feasible, and we will inform students of the associated costs at the appropriate time.

Students are required to submit comprehensive written reports at the conclusion of each practicum, addressing specific questions related to their practical experiences.

In summary, our practicums aim to provide essential hands-on knowledge that complements e-learning. We acknowledge the time constraints of e-learning students and believe that real-world experience is invaluable in viticulture and winemaking.

Important: In the individual descriptions of our courses, we do not give full details of the various topics or subject matter covered in our lectures. More details are available upon specific request from genuinely interested persons.

Courses for Individuals with No Prior Wine Knowledge

Essentials of Wine, Viticulture, and Wine Production
(25 e-learning lectures – no prior wine knowledge required)

This course is designed for individuals seeking a foundational understanding of wine, its impact, wine classification, tasting and evaluation techniques, distillation, spirits (whiskies, Cognac, etc.), viticulture essentials, and wine production basics.

The course comprises:

25 lectures with compulsory assignments, divided into two modules:

Module I: General wine knowledge, professional tasting, Champagne, sweet wines, spirits, and distillation.

Module II: Viticulture, climate, terroir, grape varieties, soils, vineyard planning, and wine production including fermentation.
Compulsory Wine Tasting Exercises with 20 wines.
A mandatory online final examination.
Optional tutored workshops and wine tastings (availability varies by location).
Optional Field Trips to gain practical exposure to viticulture and winemaking (availability depends on student interest).

International Certificate Wine Essentials, Viticulture & Wine Production
(40 e-learning lectures – no prior wine knowledge required)

Designed for individuals seeking a solid foundation in wine, viticulture, and wine production, this course consists of two modules:

Module 1: Covers fundamental wine and viticulture topics, including sensory evaluation, wine styles, grape varieties, climate, terroir, and more.

Module 2: Explores various aspects of wine production, from winemaking equipment to fermentation and wine chemistry.

The course requirements include:

40 e-learning lectures and assignments.
A portfolio of 60 wines to taste.
A compulsory essay.
on-site training (minimum of 40 hours) if the student has no wine experience, at any type of wine or liquor business or winery.
A compulsory online examination for each module.

Optional tutored workshops and wine tastings, as well as Field Trips, offer additional learning opportunities.

Upon successful completion, students receive the EWA’s “International Certificate in Wine Essentials, Viticulture & Wine Production.”

Associate Degree Wine Essentials, Viticulture & Wine Production
(120 e-learning lectures – no prior wine knowledge required)

This comprehensive course delves deeply into wine, viticulture, and wine production, providing a thorough foundation. It consists of four modules:

Module 1: Covers wine essentials, sensory evaluation, wine styles, and more.
Module 2: Focuses on viticulture in detail, including grape quality, climate, soils, and vineyard management.
Module 3: Examines wine production practices and techniques.
Module 4: Explores wine marketing and business topics.

Course components include:

120 lectures and assignments.
A portfolio of 120 wines to taste.
A compulsory essay.

on-site training (minimum of 40 hours) if the student has no wine experience, at any type of wine or liquor business or winery.
A compulsory online examination for each module.

Optional tutored workshops and wine tastings, as well as Field Trips, provide practical experience.

Successful completion earns students the EWA’s “Associate Degree in Wine Essentials, Viticulture & Wine Production.”

Courses for Individuals with Prior Wine Knowledge

These courses assume a foundational wine knowledge, covering more advanced topics in viticulture and wine production.

Essentials of Wine Production
(20 lectures – prior wine knowledge required)

Designed for individuals with existing wine knowledge, this course provides a concise introduction to wine production, focusing on the factors influencing wine characteristics.

Topics include viticulture’s impact, winemaking equipment, fermentation, wine microbiology, cellar operations, and more.

Course requirements encompass:

20 e-learning lectures and assignments.
A portfolio of 20 wines for tasting.
A compulsory essay.
An online examination upon course completion.

Certificate in Viticulture & Wine Production
(40 e-learning lectures – prior wine knowledge required)

Intended for students with acceptable wine knowledge, this course offers an in-depth exploration of viticulture and wine production.

Course components include:

40 lectures and assignments, divided into two modules:
- Module 1 covers grape and wine quality, climate, terroir, vineyard management, and more.
- Module 2 delves into winemaking equipment, wine chemistry, fermentation, and cellar operations.
A portfolio of 60 wines for tasting.
A compulsory essay.
on-site training (minimum of 40 hours) if the student has no wine experience, at any type of wine or liquor business or winery.
A compulsory online examination for each module.

Optional tutored workshops and wine tastings, as well as Field Trips, offer additional enrichment.

Successful completion leads to the EWA’s “Certificate in Viticulture & Wine Production.”

Associate Degree in Viticulture & Wine Production
(90 e-learning lectures)

In this course the goal is to train someone who already has a proven wine knowledge (if not students need to first follow the Basic Essentials of Wine course to gain a solid basic knowledge of wine), but not yet of viticulture, and who wishes to acquire a deeper knowledge of viticulture and wine production that is available via the Certificate course. This may be for professional purposes or to deepen one’s knowledge of wine.

This course consists of: Compulsory: 90 lectures and assignments, divided into the following two modules:

Module 1: Viticulture covers grape quality, climate, terroir, soil science, vine physiology, varietal selection, and vineyard management.

Module 2: Wine Production addresses winery equipment, organic practices, wine chemistry, fermentation, maturation, blending, and bottling.

Additionally:

Compulsory wine tasting with 120 different wines
A compulsory Essay
on-site training (minimum of 40 hours) if the student has no wine experience, at any type of wine or liquor business or winery.
An online examination at the conclusion of each module.

Optional:

Tutored workshops & wine tastings: where we discuss any possible problems, new developments or techniques, and taste at least 6 wines. This is obviously optional as it may not always be possible, (given that students may be following this course in various parts of the world,) to get sufficient numbers of students together to conduct such workshops and wine tastings. Details about this will be provided to students throughout the course via the platform. The course fees do not include any of these costs and it will always require a certain minimum number of participants.
Field Trips: the intention being that during such Field Trip students get some hands-on, practical exposure to grapes, viticulture, winemaking or other related practical experience. Obviously, these Field Trips are also optional and will depend on how many students wish to attend such Field Trip.

If the student passes the online multiple-choice module examination(s) at the end of the course, also successfully completes all the wine tasting exercises and the Essay, she/he will receive the EWA’s “Associate Degree in Viticulture & Wine Production “.

Certificate in Wine Production
(40 lectures)

This course is aimed at persons who already have a proven wine knowledge, as well as of viticulture, this is where it differs from the Certificate in Viticulture & Wine Production above, where viticulture is also covered.

As this course focuses exclusively on vinification/wine production, it will cover many topics,(in two modules) in any event in far greater detail than the Basic Essentials of Winemaking course above,

This course consists of:

40 lectures and assignments
A portfolio of 60 wines that have to be tasted during the course
a compulsory Essay
an online examination at the conclusion of each module, or the course

Optional:

practicums at an approved practicum centre (depending on student numbers).
Optional tutored workshops
Optional Field Trip to a wine region

Associate Degree in Wine Production
(90 lectures)

In some cases, students already have a sound background and training in wine, but also in viticulture. This course, which covers wine production in great detail, therefore assumes that the student has such viticultural knowledge. It also assumes that the student has a proven wine knowledge (if not students’ need to first follow the Basic Essentials of Wine course to gain a solid basic knowledge of wine). As this course focuses exclusively on vinification/ wine production, it will cover many topics, in any event in greater number and detail than any of the other wine production courses listed above.

This course consists of:

90 lectures and assignments in 5 modules.In module 1 we learn all the general vinification practices. In the second module we deal with white wine production, and in the third with red wine production. In the fourth module, we learn about the production of spirits and other products, and in the fifth module, we deal with business, marketing, and administrative matters.
A compulsory Essay
A portfolio of 120 wines that have to be tasted during the course
An online examination at the conclusion of each module, or the course

Optional:

Practicums at an approved practicum centre (depending on student numbers).
Optional Field Trip to a wine region

Viticulture and Wine Production course with Wine Business & Marketing modules

Diploma in Viticulture, Wine Production, Marketing & Business Management
(60 lectures)

This e-learning course has been designed to meet the needs of those students who already have a solid basic knowledge of wine through other wine courses or experience, but who wish to focus their wine studies on viticulture and wine production and, because it is so important nowadays for a winemaker to also sell his/her wines, a separate module on Wine Marketing and Business Management.

It has the following modules:

Module 1 (Viticulture): Topics include Grape/Wine quality, Climate & Global warming, Terroir, Soil science, vegetative and reproductive cycles, Vitis vinifera, and Root system.

Module 2 (Wine Production): Topics cover winery equipment, Organic and bio-dynamic wines, Oxygen’s role, Wine Chemistry, Microbiology, Red wine styles, Must adjustments, fermentation, and Malo-lactic.

Module 3 (Wine Marketing): Topics encompass Variables, Micro-environment, Marketing Process, Market/Product Development, Marketing Planning, Wine Consumption, Consumer behavior, and Demographics.

Module 4 (Wine Business Management): Topics include Accounting principles, SME/Family-Owned Enterprises management, Business Law, SCM in the wine industry, and human resources.

In summary, it consists of:

60 lectures and assignments, divided into 4 modules
A portfolio of 60 wines that have to be tasted during the course
A compulsory Essay
On-site Training of at least 40 hours if the student has no wine experience, at any wine-related business
An online examination at the conclusion of each module

The following are optional:

Optional tutored workshop,
Optional Field Trip to a wine region.
Tutored workshops & wine tastings: where we discuss any possible problems, new developments or techniques, and taste at least 6 wines. This is obviously optional as it may not always be possible, (given that students may be following this course in various parts of the world,) to get sufficient numbers of students together to conduct such workshops and wine tastings. Details about this will be provided to students throughout the course via the platform. The course fees do not include any of these costs and it will always require a certain minimum number of participants.
Field Trips: the intention being that during such Field Trip students get some hands-on, practical exposure to grapes, viticulture, winemaking or other related practical experience. Obviously, these Field Trips are also optional and will depend on how many students wish to attend such Field Trip.

If the student passes the online multiple-choice module examination(s) at the end of the course, also successfully completes all the wine tasting exercises and the Essay, she/he will receive the EWA’s “Diploma in Viticulture, Wine Production, Marketing & Business Management”.

Associate Degree Viticulture, Wine Production, Wine Marketing & Business
(120 lectures)

This e-learning course has been designed to meet the needs of those students who already have a solid basic knowledge of wine through other wine courses, but who wish to focus their wine studies on viticulture, wine production, wine marketing and wine business. (Should you wish to follow this course even though you have no wine knowledge or experience, you may register for it but you would first have to complete the short ‘Basic Essentials of Wine’ course). Consequently, we offer this course, which differs from the Associate Degree Oenology course above in that it does not contain the ‘Essentials’ module – simply because such a student already possesses that basic wine knowledge. Instead, the viticulture and especially the wine production modules are expanded and widened.

As the course is aimed at those wishing to combine knowledge of viticulture and oenology with wine business and wine marketing, we, therefore, have two separate modules for wine marketing and wine business. This means that this Associate Degree course resembles the Associate Degree Wine Production course in that it combines viticulture and wine production with wine marketing and wine business, but it is different in that it does not have the ‘Essentials’ basic wine knowledge module as the AD Wine Production course has, instead its Viticulture and Wine Production modules are more detailed.

It has the following modules:

Module 1 (Viticulture): Topics include Grape/Wine quality, Climate & Global warming, Terroir, Soil science, vegetative and reproductive cycles, Vitis vinifera, and Root system.

Module 3 (Wine Marketing): Topics encompass Variables, Micro-environment, Marketing Process, Market/Product Development, Marketing Planning, Wine Consumption, Consumer behavior, and Demographics.

Module 4 (Wine Business Management): Topics include Accounting principles, SME/Family-Owned Enterprises management, Business Law, SCM in the wine industry, and human resources.

In summary, it consists of:

120 lectures and assignments, divided into 4 Modules.
A portfolio of 120 wines that have to be tasted during the course
A compulsory Essay
On-site Training of at least 40 hours if the student has no wine experience, at any wine-related business
An online examination at the conclusion of each module, or the course

Optional:

Tutored workshops & wine tastings: where we discuss any possible problems, new developments or techniques, and taste at least 6 wines. This is obviously optional as it may not always be possible, (given that students may be following this course in various parts of the world,) to get sufficient numbers of students together to conduct such workshops and wine tastings. Details about this will be provided to students throughout the course via the platform. The course fees do not include any of these costs and it will always require a certain minimum number of participants.
Field Trips: the intention being that during such Field Trip students get some hands-on, practical exposure to grapes, viticulture, winemaking or other related practical experience. Obviously, these Field Trips are also optional and will depend on how many students wish to attend such Field Trip.

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