Module 1 – Wine production: grape, vessel, ingenuity

Grape: origin, varieties, uses and production

Winery: basic operations, equipment, flow diagrams

Ingenuity: basic principles of vinification, storage and bottling. 

Module 2 – Wine appreciation: beyond sensory analysis 

Tasting and the senses: neuronal mechanisms of sensory perception

Perception variability and cross modal interactions

Olfaction as an emotional sense

Conventional tasting: analytical and synthetic descriptors   

Module 3 – Quality: concepts and assessment

Sensory analysis and wine tasting

Commodity wines and fine wines

The different degrees of expertise: perceptual, conceptual and aesthetic

The cognitive biases in wine appreciation

Preference and aesthetical evaluation

Halo effect in wine appreciation: trends and fashions

Module 4 - Wine origin: in time and space

The historic and heritage sustainability of grape and wine production

The concept of terroir

Denominations of origin: historical background, geographical denominations and present regions

Module 5 – Wine manipulation: meeting consumer demands

Aromatization and smoothening

Oak aging and terroir dissipation

The case of sweet wines, sparkling wines and vermouths

Module 6 – Wine off-flavours: faults or forms?

Concept and definitions: distinguishing between detection and spoilage

Most frequent off-flavours

How to deal with off-flavours

Module 7 – Wine and food: antagonisms and synergies 

General principles of food and wine pairing

Wine service: glasses, temperatures and decanting