Learn Enology Online

Pullman, Wash. -- Looking to start a winery? Hoping to advance within the industry? Can't afford to go back to school full-time? With a waiting list of more than 600 applicants for its popular viticulture and enology certificate programs, Washington State University is making its lectures available online for those who can't wait to advance their wine education. The self-directed study program, which launched Jan 1., allows students to access the same lectures provided to certificate candidates, to study at their own pace for a lower price--and there are no exams.

Once enrolled, students will be able to view their courses as many times as they want until the session closes at the end of 2009.

The downside is that there is no interaction with instructors, no opportunity to attend weekend "camps," and no piece of paper to attest completion of the course. According to certificate program coordinator Theresa Beaver, the program is perfect for those who are ready to start their enology education right away.

"It's totally self-guided, self-directed and otherwise do-it-yourself," she told Wines & Vines. Interestingly, of the 25 students who've already signed on, "Many have been those who are on, and remain on, the waiting list" for the certification program.

"I think those who tackle these courses on their own will have a leg up if they then go through the certificate program," Beaver said. "My guess is that they'll raise the bar all the way around: when they come to winemaking camps, for instance, they'll ask sharper questions, pushing themselves, their fellow students and their instructors to new levels."

Prices for the six enology courses currently available are modest, and are the same for anyone, anywhere, who wants to enroll. "About two-thirds are in the Northwest, but people from all over are buying the courses," including several U.S. states and other countries, Beaver said. "These are enology courses, so are widely applicable to grapes grown anywhere, not just the Pacific Northwest," she noted.

Courses include Wine Production (seven lectures, $200); Wine Chemistry (18 lectures, $400); Enology-Viticulture Interface (six lectures, $150); Winery Equipment (14 lectures, $200); Sanitation in the Winery (5 lectures, $75) and Economics of Starting a Winery (seven lectures, $150).

Beaver said that students in the self-directed program "are the same type we get in the Professional Certificate Program: They're either already working in the industry, or want to work in the industry (e.g., open a winery), or are looking to get a foot in the industry door." Although there is no way to validate completion of the courses, or how much a student actually learned from them, employers can verify that an individual purchased a course by contacting the program coordinator.

Additional enology courses are expected to be added soon, and viticulture classes are scheduled to begin in March. They'll cover grapevine anatomy and physiology; growing grapes; grape virus and fungal diseases; insects and biological control; nematodes; weed management; irrigation; soil and nutrient management and economics of grapegrowing.

To learn more about the self-directed program, visit cru84.cahe.wsu.edu. For information on the professional certificate programs in viticulture and enology, visit winegrapes.wsu.edu.

For information on more traditional viticulture/enology programs, please see "Start on the Right Foot," Headline, Jan. 19.