World of Wine: From Grape to Glass

Week 1: Wine Styles and Sensory Evaluation

• Explain the classification of wine, wine styles and wine regions
• Describe the basic sensory processes and their application to wine evaluation
• Describe the key components of wine and their influence on wine appearance, aroma, flavour, taste and/or mouth feel properties
• Explain the Odour Activity Value and how it can be used to determine the impact of volatile compounds on wine aroma
• Describe and compare the varietal characteristics of different white and red cultivars
• Evaluate and communicate the sensory attributes of wine using appropriate descriptive terminology.

Week 2: The Grape Vine

• Describe the structure, growth and development of grapevines
• Identify the different structural components of shoots, leaves and bunches
• Explain the seasonal cycle of growth of the grapevine
• Explain the factors which influence crop yield
• Identify the important factors to consider when selecting a site to grow grapevines.

Week 3: Understanding the Planning Phase

• Explain the objectives of key vineyard management practices
• Understand the differences between spur and cane pruning
• Describe the physical and compositional changes that occur during berry development and ripening
• Explain how and why we undertake maturity and quality assessment during the ripening period
• Compare the advantages/disadvantages of hand vs. mechanical harvesting
• Describe ways in which vine performance is measured.

Week 4: Determining Project Risk

• Describe the processes involved in making different styles of wine
• Explain the objectives of pressing, crushing and draining processes
• Contrast the different winemaking techniques employed in the production of red and white wines
• Explain the impact of skin contact during red winemaking
• Describe what happens during alcoholic (primary) and malolactic (secondary) fermentation
• Recall the parameters that need to be monitored during fermentation
• Discuss the origin of different classes of wine components and their impact on the appearance, aroma, flavour, taste and/or mouthfeel properties of wine
• Understand the objectives of clarification and stabilisation processes.

Week 5: Wine Making

• Outline how wine maturation can be undertaken
• Explain the purpose of blending wine
• Describe the processes involved in bottling wine
• Explain the influence of different packaging materials of wine quality
• Identify the ways in which oak components are incorporated into the winemaking process
• Outline the various sources of taint compounds in wine and their sensory impact.

Week 6: Grape and Wine Science

• Demonstrate an understanding of how research can be used to solve or address issues of interest or concern to grape growers and/or winemakers
• Describe the facilities and functions with a commercial winery.