English Wine and Sustainability:

Level 5 15 credits

This module has a distinct focus on the English wine industry. Students will examine the history, establishment and structure of the English wine production business. Also investigated will be key producers and recent developments in the industry. The various areas of sustainability and its growing importance to the wine business will also be studied with a particular focus on the English wine industry.

Food & Wine:

Level 4 / 15 Credits

This module aims to provide students with the knowledge and understanding of wine’s relationship to the UK on-trade industry. Students will analyse the key on-trade channels for wine and how products are successfully listed and marketed in bars, hotels and restaurants. The module will also include a number of practical exercises to investigate the principles of food and wine matching.

Fundamentals of Wine Science

Level 4 / 30 Credits

This module incorporates the key chemistry concepts that underpin winemaking, as well as laboratory practicals for the chemical analysis of juice and wine.

Global Wine Business:

Level 4 / 30 Credits

This module will see students investigate the key building blocks of the global wine business, analysing the entire supply chain from vine to consumer. There will be a focus on comparing different business structures, major global organisations, stakeholders and global drinks trends.

What are the common wine faults, how are they identified, what are their causes and how are they corrected?

Course content

WineGB’s Training and Education survey ranked sensory evaluation within the top training needs, reflecting the increasing number of English and Welsh wines entering the market.

It is invaluable to be able to spot wine faults and understand why they occur.

This course will bring you the theory of specific wine faults, including a practical application through a tutored tasting.

You will examine faults and their underlying causes, as well as learning the winemaking techniques, and/or storage conditions, to prevent and correct the faults

Aims

Learn to identify faults and taints, and their underlying causes in wines. 

Apply these skills to a winetasting guided by professional winemaker and wine lecturer, Sarah Midgley.

Outcomes

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Describe off flavours and aromas in wine
• Define specific faults in wine including: Brettanomyces, volatile acidity, light strike, TCA, reduction and oxidation 
• Understand the underlying causes of common wine faults
• Suggest preventative measures against common wine faults
• Recommend corrective actions for faulty wines
• Assess finished wines for faults

Introduces the winemaking theory relating to the key winery operations: tirage, secondary fermentation, disgorging and dosage.

• Tirage and secondary fermentation
• Maturation and lees aging
• Riddling and disgorging
• Dosage

The aims of this intensive and technical three day course are to provide a good level of knowledge and skills in traditional method sparkling winemaking to those who are making and selling sparkling wine.
Day one of the course will introduce the winemaking theory relating to the key winery operations: tirage, secondary fermentation, disgorging and dosage.
Day two focuses on the start of the secondary fermentation in greater detail, and will involve practical activity related to tirage, including the preparation of cultures and adjuvants.
Day three will complete the range of operations specific to sparkling wine with practicals and demonstrations associated with disgorging and dosage.

The aim of this five-day intensive course is to provide a good level of knowledge and understanding of vinegrowing to those who wish to start growing grapes, work in a vineyard, enter the wine trade, or have a strong interest in the world of wine.

Each day, vinegrowing theory is introduced in the morning classroom session, then put into practice in the afternoon in the vineyard.

It is based on the seven-day Principles of Vinegrowing course, and enables students to gain a good level of knowledge and understanding of vineyard activities over a short, intense, period of time.

The aims of this course are to provide a good level of knowledge and understanding of vinegrowing (viticulture) to those who wish to start growing grapes, work in a vineyard, enter the wine trade, or who have a strong interest in the world of wine.

During the course, vinegrowing theory is introduced in the morning classroom sessions, then put into practice during the afternoon session in the vineyard.

This course course follows the vinegrowing calendar and allows a good understanding of vineyard activities over an eight month period.

IF YOU ARE LAUNCHING A NEW ENGLISH WINE BRAND, OR WANT TO SELL MORE WINE, THIS IS THE COURSE FOR YOU.

Delivered by Plumpton’s specialist Wine Business lecturers, Paul Harley and Tim Andrews, it will enable you to identify and understand your potential customers and develop the best brand, packaging and routes to market for your wine.  There will be a focus on wine tourism and consumer behaviour, which will enable you to maximise your sales margins.

This workshop is particularly suitable for medium-sized English and Welsh wine producers, both new and established.

The aims of this one week intensive course are to provide a good level of knowledge and understanding of winemaking (oenology) to those who wish to start making wine, work in a winery, enter the wine trade, or have a strong interest in the world of wine. 

During the course, winemaking theory is introduced in the morning classroom session, then put into practice during the afternoon session in the winery.
It is based on the seven-day Principles of Winemaking course, and allows a good understanding of winery activities over a short, intense, period of time.

The aims of this course are to provide a good level of knowledge and understanding of winemaking (oenology) to those who wish to start making wine, work in a winery, enter the wine trade, or have a strong interest in the world of wine.
During the course, winemaking theory is introduced in the morning classroom session, then put into practice during the afternoon session in the winery.
This seven-day course follows the winemaking calendar, and allows a good understanding of winery activities over a six month period

Sparkling and Fortified Wine:

Level 5 / 15 Credits

This module enables students to explore the world of sparkling and fortified wines from start to finish. The module covers everything from the production factors of varieties of sherries, ports, champagnes etc through to profiling key business and the trade legislature affecting them. Upon completion of the module, students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the factors and processes that each of these sparkling and fortified wines undergo.

Through lectures, seminars, guided tastings and site visits, students will gain knowledge and a detailed understanding of how viticultural and oenological decisions can affect the quality of sparkling wines produced with different techniques.

Understanding Wine Styles:

Level 4 / 15 Credits

This module will introduce students to the key wine producing regions of the world, to their individual characteristics and to their differences. By the end of the module students will be able to recall and identify the practices influencing the principal wines of the world.

Vineyard Engineering and Operations:

Level 4 / 15 Credits

This module enables students to evaluate key vineyard operations and associate equipment, including:

·         Utilisation of tractors and tractor-mounted implements in the vineyard.

·         Grape harvesting.

·         Site establishment and maintenance.

·         Vineyard floor management.

·         Grapevine winter pruning.

·         Vineyard health and safety.

Vineyard Establishment:

Level 4 / 30 Credits

This module enables students to investigate the vineyard environment (physical, climatic and pedologic) and explore the origins, biology and geography of the grapevine. They will then learn the underlying principles of vineyard establishment and apply them to a specific commercial scenario.

Wine Component Analysis:

Level 4 / 15 Credits

This module will see students exploring and assessing the major components found in commercial wines, whilst also being introduced to the basics of sensory perception. By the end of the module students will be comfortable recognising common wine components, aromas and flavours, including some key faults.

Wine Marketing:

Level 4 / 15 Credits

This module will see students analyse the wine business from two different perspectives: that of the buyer and that of the seller. Students will learn about buyer behaviour and the value chain, and how this may affect marketing activities. Students will also investigate digital marketing and the various methods available for conducting market research, culminating in the construction of their own business marketing plan.

English Wine & Tourism:

Level 5 / 15 Credits

This module will focus on the emergence of tourism as a key element of business strategy for both wine producers and their wider production communities and regions.
Students will study the history and recent developments in the field of oenotourism factoring in the importance of products and services offered, tourist consumer behaviour and establishing an effective cellar door. This will result in students identifying an issue impacting the tourism industry and making recommendations as to how to solve the problem identified.

Winery Engineering and Operations

Level 5 / 15 Credits

Pre and co requisites – Fundamentals of Wine Science

This module enables students to evaluate key winery operations, including:

·         Grape receival and processing.

·         Must amelioration.

·         Alcoholic fermentation management.

·         Malolactic fermentation management.

·         Post ferment operations.

·         Packaging operations.

Wines of the world:

Level 5 / 30 Credits

This module enables students to critically evaluate the production, style, quality and trading methods of many of the world’s principal wine styles. Students will learn the theory underpinning many of the most successful wine regions of the world and this will be supported by in-depth practical tasting exercises.

Wine Sales and Social Responsibility:

Level 5 / 15 Credits

This module has a focus on the effects of alcohol on both the individual and society. Students will examine the themes of social responsibility in regard to alcohol, alongside various measures certain governments and business organisations take to promote responsible drinking. Alongside this the students will learn a number of sales techniques that will allow them to sell wine better, and ethically, across various distribution channels.

A three-day intensive theory course with exam on the morning of the fourth day delivering an introduction to the world of wines. This course is designed for those with a keen interest in wine and other beverages, who wish to gain employment in drinks-related industries.