Want To Learn Winemaking? (or bump up your knowledge?)

If you’re passionate about wine, the University of California at Davis offers a series of courses that can give real depth to your interest in the grape…or even result in a degree. Many courses are online, so you can learn advanced topics from anywhere in the world.

Some of their featured courses are:

• Introduction to Wine and Winemaking
  Whether you’re interested in a career in the wine industry, or are just a devoted oenophile, you can take this unique course from anywhere in the world.
• Introduction to Sensory Evaluation of Wine
  An opportunity to enhance your critical tasting ability and learn basic aspects of sensory evaluation often overlooked in most wine tastings.
• Advanced Wine Tasting
  This rigorous day of tasting duplicates many of the consistency and identification tests required for qualification as a wine competition judge. It challenges experienced tasters and, following each flight that is blind tasted, provides immediate feedback on their sensitivity to a range of odors and flavors in wine, whether attributes or defects.
• Rootstock Workshop: Identification and Use
  Learn about the history, use, and identification of the 20 most important rootstocks in California.
• Winegrapes: Identification and Use
  Receive an introduction to about 40 white and red winegrape varieties. White wine varieties are discussed on day one, and the reds on day two.

If it’s a career in the wine industry you’re interested in pursuing, U.C. Davis offers an online winemaking certificate program that is rigorous enough it give one a solid educational foundation without actually duplicating the degree program they also offer.

The certificate consists of five quarter-long (10-week) courses that are taught online. The first class, Introduction to Wine and Winemaking, is an introductory, lower-division class that is taught every quarter. Lectures are provided by faculty in the Department of Viticulture and Enology. The remaining four classes are all equivalent to upper-division science courses and are quite demanding in terms of time and content. The second class is Wine Production. The third class is Quality Control and Analysis in Winemaking. The fourth class is Wine Stability and Sensory Analysis. The fifth distance class is Viticulture for Winemakers.

Visit the U.C. Davis website to learn more!