Lecture content:
An introduction to wine - How Aotearoa New Zealand fits into the global wine industry.
Sensory evaluation of wine - Appearance, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, balance, complexity, and quality.
Growing grapes for winemaking - Life-cycle of the vine, climate, soil, temperature, sunlight, varieties, rootstocks, cultural practices, diseases. Composition of grapes. Concept of terroir.
Wine labeling - Place vs. variety, appellation, vintage, varieties/cultivars, wine additives, sulfur dioxide, alcohol.
Winemaking and production - Fermentation, the role of yeast and bacteria, malolactic fermentation, spoilage, maceration times, processing, fining, filtration, ageing, the effect of barrel fermentation and ageing, packaging. Differences in the production methods of white wines, red wines, sparkling wines, dessert wines, and fortified wines.
Composition of wine - Aroma chemistry.
Wine and health - Wine as an alcoholic beverage.
Wine styles - Sparkling wine, table wine styles, fortified wines, and dessert wine.
Wine regions of the world - 'Old World' and 'New World'.
Laboratory content:
Learning how to assess wines by their appearance, aroma, and palate. Learning how to assess balance, quality, and complexity in wines.
Tasting and evaluating different wine styles, writing tasting notes, verbal communication of wines, and recognising how different production techniques produce different wine characteristics.