An affordable online course from Purdue is a compact yet comprehensive package of essential knowledge for winemakers.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Professional winemakers and employees in the wine industry looking to advance their knowledge, skills, business and profession, as well as serious non-commercial winemakers looking to entertain to the professional start-up level, can get the technical knowledge they need from Purdue University.

Purdue’s online Winemaking Certificate course is a streamlined, compact, yet comprehensive review of the principles and practices of commercial winemaking. It consists of six progressive modules that cover the ground from grapes to glass. Topics range from a critical review of winemaking techniques, styles and traditions to advice on aging, stabilizing, filtering, bottling and optimizing shelf life. Portions of the curriculum focus specifically on wine production in Indiana, the Midwest, and eastern United States, but much of the program is applicable to wineries anywhere in the world. gender.

The online course is valuable to those in the wine business, whether novice winery workers or long-time winemakers. It teaches individuals who already make wine how to make better wine and how to improve their winery’s profitability. Participants should have prior or concurrent winemaking experience and it may be helpful to take an introductory wine course, such as Purdue’s Wine Appreciation series.

“The class offers varying levels of skill and experience, and all participants will learn,” says Christian Butzke, Purdue professor of wine who developed and teaches the Certificate in Winemaking course. acquire new knowledge and refresh their existing knowledge, even if they have taken other winemaking classes.” .

Butzke, professor of enology (the science of wine and winemaking), is a former president of the American Association for Viticulture and Science, and an award-winning commercial wine producer and director. Check out the wine contest. He is the editor of the technical book “Solving Winemaking Problems” for commercial winemakers and the author of the popular textbook “Wine Appraisal.” .

Butzke has taught winemaking for nearly 30 years and was appointed a visiting professor in Italy in 2020 before the virus pandemic made traveling abroad impossible. He eventually packaged his Italian presentations for online consumption, and that led to the idea of ​​​​developing a new online Certificate in Winemaking.

“Everything I know about winemaking is on this course,” says Butzke. “It really brings it all together in one comprehensive package.”

Each module includes a variety of video lectures and supplemental materials, as well as interaction with the instructor and other students. A comprehensive 100-question quiz that tests students’ knowledge at the end aims to apply what they’ve learned to their own winemaking endeavors. Butzke is available to advise on technical questions, even after participants complete the course.

“If they have an issue, suggestion or idea they would like to share with the other participating winemakers, they can openly or privately discuss it in my class,” says Butzke.

Someone can complete all modules in six weeks, but students have one year to complete the course at their own pace and earn a Purdue Winemaking Certificate. Cost is $999 for Indiana residents, $1,250 for out-of-state participants.

Modules include:

• Principles of Winemaking, which summarizes techniques, styles, and traditions to equip students with the fundamentals of commercial winemaking and the challenges involved.
• Winemaking issues, covering best practices from designing a winery to running a successful wine business.
• Wine stability, which highlights ways to regulate and ensure the desired composition and quality of the finished wine, includes the main stabilization and refining techniques for low-input winemaking.
• Filtration, Bottling and Bottling, presents methods that ensure that the quality of a well-crafted wine is maintained throughout the final processing steps and beyond, helping winemakers to sleep delicious at night.
• Wine quality, aging and shelf life, considering the success aspects of fine wines in the market and global wine industry supply chains allow winemakers to optimize wine health, complexity, aging potential and value.
• Regionality, Terroir and Climate Change, envision the future of viticulture and winemaking, and prepare winemakers to adjust to global warming and changing preferences. consumer preferences.

For more information on Purdue’s Online Winemaking Certificate, check out the course’s website.

Writer: Greg Kline, 765-426-8545, gkline@purdue.edu

Source: Christian Butzke, 765-494-6500, butzke@purdue.edu