From Living Soil to Living Wine

An advanced 80-lesson Diploma examining how organic, biodynamic and natural wines are grown, produced, matured and brought to the bottle.

Organic, biodynamic and natural wines have moved from the margins of the wine world into an increasingly important part of contemporary wine culture.

But understanding these wines requires considerably more than knowing what the terms mean.

It requires an understanding of the vineyard.

It requires an understanding of the grape.

And, critically, it requires a detailed understanding of what happens in the winery.

How are the grapes handled?

How is fermentation initiated and controlled?

What happens when the winemaker relies on indigenous microorganisms?

How does skin contact alter a wine?

What is the difference between whole-bunch and destemmed fermentation?

How are extraction, temperature and oxygen managed?

What role does sulphur dioxide play?

How do different vessels affect maturation?

What happens when a winemaker deliberately reduces intervention?

And how can a producer make a low-intervention wine without losing technical stability?

The European Wine Academy Diploma in the Viticulture and Wine Production of Organic, Biodynamic & Natural Wines examines these questions in depth.

With 80 lessons, the programme combines substantial study of viticulture and winemaking, placing the techniques of wine production at the centre of the student’s understanding.

This is not simply a course about organic farming.

It is not simply a course about natural-wine philosophy.

It is a comprehensive study of how grapes are grown and how those grapes are transformed into wine under organic, biodynamic and low-intervention production philosophies.

A DIPLOMA IN BOTH THE VINEYARD AND THE CELLAR

The character of wine begins in the vineyard.

But it does not end there.

The quality and composition of grapes determine what the winemaker has to work with, while the decisions made during processing and fermentation can profoundly alter the final wine.

This Diploma therefore treats viticulture and winemaking as one interconnected production system.

Students investigate how vineyard decisions affect grape composition and how those characteristics influence subsequent decisions in the winery.

They then follow the wine through its transformation from grape to must, from must to fermenting wine, from young wine to mature wine, and finally from cellar to bottle.

The programme therefore moves through the complete production chain:

Vineyard → Grape → Processing → Fermentation → Maturation → Bottling → Wine

At every stage, students consider the relationship between science, technique, philosophy and sensory outcome.

WHY ORGANIC, BIODYNAMIC AND NATURAL WINES?

These three terms are often used together, but they do not mean the same thing.

Organic viticulture is concerned with agricultural practices and the use of permitted inputs within defined production and certification systems.

Biodynamic viticulture represents a more particular agricultural philosophy involving ecological relationships, soil vitality and biodynamic practices.

Natural wine is a broader and less uniformly defined movement generally associated with low-intervention approaches to both vineyard and cellar.

The distinctions matter.

A wine can be organically grown without being a natural wine.

A biodynamically farmed vineyard does not automatically produce a natural wine.

A natural wine does not necessarily come from a certified organic or biodynamic vineyard.

The Diploma examines these approaches individually and in relation to one another.

Students learn to distinguish certification, agricultural practice, production philosophy and winemaking technique rather than treating all alternative wine production as a single category.

THE VINEYARD: BUILDING THE RAW MATERIAL FOR WINE

No winemaking technique can completely compensate for unsuitable or poorly managed grapes.

The programme therefore establishes a strong foundation in vineyard management.

Students develop an understanding of the vine as a biological system and examine the relationship between plant, soil, climate and vineyard management.

The course considers how decisions concerning site, planting material, soil, nutrition, water, canopy, biodiversity, crop load, disease management and harvesting influence the grapes delivered to the winery.

Particular attention is given to the principles underlying organic and biodynamic vineyard management and to the practical challenges of reducing dependence on conventional agricultural inputs.

The vineyard is considered not merely as the place where grapes are grown, but as a living ecological system.

ORGANIC VITICULTURE

Organic production requires more than removing synthetic chemicals from a conventional vineyard.

It requires a different approach to soil, nutrition, disease pressure, biodiversity and vineyard management.

Students examine the principles and practical realities of organic viticulture and consider how producers manage vineyards while working within organic production frameworks.

The course also examines the relationship between vineyard health, grape quality and subsequent winemaking.

This is particularly important because the choices made in the vineyard can affect:

• grape composition;
• acidity;
• sugar concentration;
• phenolic development;
• microbial populations;
• fruit integrity;
• and ultimately the winemaker’s options in the cellar.

The vineyard and winery are therefore studied as connected systems.

BIODYNAMIC VITICULTURE

Biodynamic viticulture is examined both practically and critically.

Students investigate the historical development of biodynamic agriculture, its philosophical foundations and its approach to vineyard ecology.

The programme also considers biodynamic preparations, compost management, biodiversity and other practices associated with biodynamic farming.

Importantly, the course does not require students simply to accept or reject biodynamic principles.

Instead, they are encouraged to distinguish between agronomic practice, ecological observation, scientific evidence and philosophical belief.

This critical approach is central to EWA’s teaching philosophy.

THE GRAPE AS THE STARTING POINT OF WINEMAKING

Once grapes arrive at the winery, the winemaking process begins.

At this point, the producer has a series of choices.

How should the fruit be handled?

Should grapes be destemmed?

Should whole bunches be retained?

Should grapes be crushed?

How much contact should the juice have with the skins?

Should the must be protected from oxygen or deliberately exposed to it?

Should fermentation begin spontaneously?

What vessel should be used?

How should temperature be managed?

How much extraction is desirable?

These are not abstract theoretical questions.

They are practical winemaking decisions.

The Diploma examines the principles behind them and explores how different choices influence the resulting wine.

GRAPE RECEPTION, SORTING AND PREPARATION

The first minutes and hours after harvesting can have a major influence on wine quality.

Students examine the handling of grapes from vineyard to winery, including the principles of sorting, fruit integrity, crushing, destemming and whole-bunch processing.

The course considers why different producers make different choices and how those choices interact with grape variety, ripeness, vineyard condition and intended wine style.

Particular attention is given to the relationship between physical grape handling and subsequent fermentation and extraction.

MACERATION AND SKIN CONTACT

The relationship between grape skins and juice is one of the defining factors in many wine styles.

Students therefore examine maceration and skin-contact techniques in detail.

The course considers the effects of:

• duration;
• temperature;
• grape variety;
• phenolic maturity;
• extraction;
• oxygen;
• vessel;
• and fermentation conditions.

These principles are explored across different wine styles rather than treated as isolated techniques.

Students learn why a short period of skin contact can produce a very different result from prolonged maceration, and why the same technique may behave differently depending on the grapes and production conditions.

WHITE, ROSÉ AND ORANGE WINE PRODUCTION

The production of white and rosé wines involves a different relationship between juice, skins, oxygen and extraction from many red-wine techniques.

Students examine the principles of pressing, juice handling, clarification, fermentation and maturation for these styles.

The programme also gives particular attention to skin-contact wines, often described as orange or amber wines.

These wines demonstrate particularly clearly how changing the traditional relationship between skins and must can create a very different sensory and structural profile.

Students examine the historical roots of these techniques alongside their modern revival and consider both their technical possibilities and their production challenges.

RED WINE PRODUCTION

Red winemaking receives substantial attention because it provides an excellent opportunity to examine the relationship between fermentation, extraction, temperature, tannin and oxygen.

Students explore different approaches to preparing red grapes and examine the implications of whole-bunch and destemmed processing.

They study the management of fermenting grapes, including the principles behind different methods of cap management and extraction.

The course examines how winemakers influence the balance between colour, tannin, aroma, texture and freshness.

Particular attention is given to the fact that more extraction is not necessarily better extraction.

The objective is to understand how extraction can be controlled according to grape variety, ripeness, vineyard conditions and desired wine style.

FERMENTATION: THE HEART OF WINE PRODUCTION

Fermentation is at the centre of winemaking.

The Diploma therefore examines fermentation not merely as a stage in the production process, but as a complex biological and chemical transformation.

Students study the role of yeasts and other microorganisms and investigate how fermentation is influenced by temperature, nutrients, oxygen, grape composition and microbial ecology.

The programme considers both inoculated and spontaneous fermentation.

This is particularly important for natural and low-intervention wines, where indigenous microorganisms may play a central role.

Students examine how native fermentation develops, how microbial populations change during fermentation, and why spontaneous fermentation can produce both distinctive complexity and increased technical risk.

NATIVE YEASTS AND SPONTANEOUS FERMENTATION

The use of indigenous microorganisms is closely associated with natural winemaking.

But “native fermentation” should not be confused with simply leaving grapes alone.

A spontaneous fermentation is an active biological process involving changing microbial populations.

Students examine:

• the origins of indigenous microorganisms;
• yeast succession;
• fermentation kinetics;
• nutrient availability;
• temperature;
• oxygen;
• microbial competition;
• and the risks associated with uncontrolled fermentation.

The aim is to understand how native fermentation actually works, rather than treating it as a romantic concept.

OXYGEN AND REDOX MANAGEMENT

Oxygen is one of the most important and misunderstood elements of winemaking.

It can be beneficial at certain stages and damaging at others.

Students examine the relationship between oxygen exposure, oxidation, colour, aroma, phenolic development, microbial activity and wine stability.

This becomes particularly important in low-intervention production, where producers may deliberately work with less protection against oxygen.

The course therefore examines both oxidative and reductive environments and considers how winemakers manage the balance.

SULPHUR DIOXIDE AND LOW-INTERVENTION WINEMAKING

Sulphur dioxide is one of the most debated subjects in natural wine.

The Diploma approaches the subject scientifically rather than ideologically.

Students investigate the roles of sulphur dioxide in protecting wine against oxidation and microbial spoilage and examine how pH influences its effectiveness.

They also consider why some low-intervention producers use very little sulphur or none at all, and what technical consequences may result.

The important question is not simply:

“Does the wine contain sulphur?”

It is:

“What does the winemaker gain or risk by using, reducing or eliminating it?”

LOW-INTERVENTION WINEMAKING

The phrase “low intervention” can create the impression that the winemaker simply does less.

In practice, it often means something more complicated.

A producer may intervene less in one area while exercising considerable judgement in another.

They may allow a spontaneous fermentation but carefully control temperature.

They may avoid filtration but monitor microbial stability.

They may use minimal sulphur but manage oxygen carefully.

They may retain whole bunches but control extraction.

They may choose a particular vessel because it provides a desired oxygen environment.

The Diploma therefore presents low-intervention winemaking as a series of technical decisions, rather than an absence of technique.

MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION AND WINE DEVELOPMENT

The transformation of wine does not necessarily end when alcoholic fermentation finishes.

Students examine malolactic fermentation and the role of lactic-acid bacteria in changing wine composition, acidity, texture and aroma.

The programme considers when this transformation may be desirable, how it can influence wine style and how it interacts with low-intervention production.

Students also examine the relationship between microbiological activity and wine stability.

MATURATION AND VESSEL CHOICE

Wine continues to evolve after fermentation.

The vessel in which it matures can influence the wine’s oxygen environment, texture, aroma and development.

The Diploma examines a range of maturation approaches, including conventional and alternative vessels.

Students consider the characteristics and practical implications of materials such as stainless steel, concrete, wood and traditional vessels.

The emphasis is not on memorising which vessel produces which flavour.

Instead, students learn to understand the physical and chemical reasons why different maturation environments influence wine differently.

LEES, OXYGEN AND TIME

Maturation is also influenced by the interaction between wine, lees, oxygen and time.

Students examine the principles of lees ageing and the ways in which contact with lees can influence texture, aroma and stability.

The course considers different approaches to managing the wine during maturation and explores how apparently small decisions can influence the eventual sensory profile.

STABILITY, CLARIFICATION AND FILTRATION

One of the defining challenges of low-intervention winemaking is balancing minimal intervention with technical stability.

Students therefore examine the principles behind clarification, filtration and stabilisation.

The programme considers why a producer may choose to filter a wine, why another may choose not to, and what consequences those decisions can have.

The objective is not to promote one approach.

It is to enable students to understand the technical trade-offs involved.

WHEN NATURAL WINEMAKING GOES WRONG

A serious course must also examine failure.

Low-intervention production can produce exceptional wines.

It can also increase the risk of technical instability when processes are poorly controlled.

Students therefore learn to understand problems associated with:

• volatile acidity;
• excessive oxidation;
• reduction;
• unwanted microbial activity;
• stuck or sluggish fermentation;
• refermentation;
• instability;
• and other sensory and microbiological faults.

The course makes an important distinction between a wine that is deliberately unconventional and one that is technically defective.

Students are encouraged to develop the professional judgement required to make that distinction.

BOTTLING AND THE FINISHED WINE

The final stages of production are not simply administrative.

Bottling can influence the future development of wine.

Students examine the principles of bottling, oxygen exposure, closures, filtration, stability and bottle development.

They consider why wines that appear stable in the cellar can behave differently after bottling and why low-intervention wines may sometimes show greater bottle variation.

The production process therefore continues right up to the moment the finished wine reaches the consumer.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FUTURE OF PRODUCTION

Organic, biodynamic and natural wine production cannot be considered independently of climate change.

Changing temperatures, drought, extreme weather, disease pressure and shifting growing seasons are forcing producers to reconsider established practices.

The Diploma examines how vineyard and winery decisions may need to evolve in response.

Students consider how producers can seek greater resilience while maintaining the identity and quality of their wines.

The question is not simply how to produce wine differently.

It is how to produce good wine sustainably under changing conditions.

FROM PHILOSOPHY TO PRACTICE

A central principle of this Diploma is that philosophy must ultimately meet practical reality.

It is easy to say that wine should be produced naturally.

It is considerably harder to manage a vineyard without synthetic inputs.

It is harder still to produce a stable wine through spontaneous fermentation, minimal intervention and limited additions.

The Diploma therefore examines both the ideals and realities of alternative wine production.

Students are encouraged to understand why producers choose these approaches, what they can achieve, where their limitations lie and how different producers interpret the concept of intervention.

A SCIENTIFIC AND CRITICAL APPROACH

The Diploma does not require students to adopt a particular ideology.

Nor does it assume that conventional wine production is automatically superior.

Instead, students are encouraged to examine evidence.

Where claims can be supported scientifically, the scientific basis is explored.

Where practices are philosophical or traditional rather than scientifically demonstrated, that distinction is made clear.

This is particularly important in areas where natural, organic and biodynamic wine discussions can become polarised.

EWA’s objective is to produce knowledgeable practitioners and informed wine professionals, not advocates for a particular ideology.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

By completing the Diploma, students should develop the ability to understand the complete production pathway of organic, biodynamic and natural wines.

They will be able to:

• explain the principles of organic viticulture;
• understand the philosophy and practice of biodynamic agriculture;
• distinguish organic, biodynamic and natural production;
• evaluate vineyard health and ecological resilience;
• understand the influence of soil, climate and vineyard management on grape quality;
• evaluate grapes before they enter the winery;
• understand grape handling and preparation;
• explain maceration and extraction;
• compare whole-bunch and destemmed approaches;
• understand white, rosé, red and skin-contact production;
• explain spontaneous and inoculated fermentation;
• understand native-yeast ecology;
• evaluate fermentation conditions;
• understand oxygen management;
• explain the role of sulphur dioxide;
• understand malolactic fermentation;
• evaluate maturation vessels and regimes;
• understand lees management;
• evaluate clarification, filtration and stabilisation;
• identify important wine faults and instability problems;
• understand bottling and bottle development;
• evaluate low-intervention production decisions;
• relate production techniques to sensory outcomes;
• and critically evaluate claims made about organic, biodynamic and natural wines.

WHO IS THIS DIPLOMA FOR?

The programme is designed for serious students who want to understand the production of alternative wine styles from vineyard through to bottle.

It is particularly relevant to:

Wine Professionals

For professionals who want a deeper understanding of organic, biodynamic and natural wine production.

Vineyard Managers and Growers

For those seeking a stronger understanding of how vineyard decisions influence grape quality and subsequent winemaking.

Winemakers

For producers who want to explore low-intervention techniques and their scientific and practical implications.

Sommeliers and Wine Buyers

For professionals who need to understand how production methods influence the wines they taste, recommend and purchase.

Wine Educators

For those who need sufficient technical knowledge to explain alternative production systems accurately.

Wine Writers and Communicators

For professionals who want to move beyond fashionable descriptions and understand the technical realities behind natural and biodynamic wines.

Serious Wine Enthusiasts

For experienced wine students who want to move beyond appreciation into a much deeper understanding of production.

WHAT MAKES THIS DIPLOMA DIFFERENT?

It combines viticulture and winemaking.

The vineyard is not treated as a separate subject from the winery.

It takes production seriously.

The course examines actual winemaking processes rather than concentrating primarily on philosophy.

It examines the science.

Fermentation, microbiology, chemistry, oxygen, sulphur, extraction and stability are treated as essential components of understanding.

It is critical rather than ideological.

Students are encouraged to examine evidence and competing interpretations.

It covers both traditional and contemporary practice.

Historical techniques are examined alongside modern approaches.

It considers both success and failure.

Technical faults and instability are studied alongside successful low-intervention production.

It connects technique with sensory outcome.

Students learn how production decisions influence the wine they eventually taste.

80 LESSONS OF SPECIALIST STUDY

The Diploma comprises 80 lessons, providing sufficient scope to examine both vineyard management and wine production in meaningful depth.

The course has been deliberately structured so that students do not have to choose between understanding the vineyard and understanding the cellar.

They study both.

The programme progressively moves from the biological and environmental foundations of grape production into increasingly detailed examination of wine production, fermentation, maturation and wine stability.

The exact lesson sequence provides a structured academic progression while allowing students to develop an integrated understanding of the complete production process.

A DIPLOMA FOR THE MODERN WINE INDUSTRY

Organic, biodynamic and natural wines are not passing curiosities.

They form part of a broader conversation about the future of agriculture, sustainability, wine production, authenticity and consumer expectations.

Understanding them therefore requires more than learning a vocabulary.

It requires understanding how the vineyard works, how the winery works, and how the two interact.

That is the purpose of this Diploma.

FROM SOIL TO BOTTLE

The journey begins with the living vineyard.

It continues with the grape.

Then comes the cellar:

handling → processing → maceration → fermentation → extraction → maturation → stabilisation → bottling

At every stage, the winemaker makes decisions.

The Diploma teaches students to understand those decisions.

Not simply what was done.

But why it was done, what happened as a result, and how the decision influenced the wine in the glass.

YOUR NEXT STEP

If you want to understand organic, biodynamic and natural wines at a level beyond the consumer or enthusiast, this Diploma provides a comprehensive route into the subject.

Study the vineyard.

Understand the grape.

Examine the microorganisms.

Understand fermentation.

Explore extraction and maturation.

Analyse the consequences of intervention — and non-intervention.

Understand the risks.

Evaluate the finished wine.

And develop the knowledge to discuss organic, biodynamic and natural wine production with genuine professional confidence.

DIPLOMA IN THE VITICULTURE AND WINE PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC, BIODYNAMIC & NATURAL WINES

80 lessons — from living soil to living wine.

European Wine Academy — serious wine education since 2002.