Advanced Principles of Winemaking - Harvest Operations

Harvest can be a stressful time for vineyards and wineries. This course aims to teach techniques to help students plan for an efficient harvest. It will cover preparing the winery facilities, monitoring fruit ripeness, preparing the laboratory facilities, health and safety considerations, regulations for winemaking and transporting grapes and essential record keeping.

Topics of study include:

• Planning for harvest and ordering yeast, enzymes and adjuvants
• Juice analysis and monitoring ripeness
• Yield forecasting and predicting harvest dates
• Laboratory preparation for receiving samples for testing
• Liaising with the Vineyard team on logistics
• Preparing the winery for fruit receival
• Harvest health and safety
• Organising the workflow for fruit receival and processing
• Organising the winery space and tank space management
• Organising and training seasonal winery staff
• Regulations for wine making and documentatioN
• Record keeping

The course ends with a 30-minute multiple choice exam

This course is designed for Winemakers, Operations Managers and Cellarhands to learn about systematic preparation of the winery for harvest operations to streamline operations, minimize delays, and ensure a successful harvest season.

Course Cost

Please note Plumpton College Wine Division have recently secured some funding, allowing for a reduction in price to a selection of wine courses, subject to eligibility*.

*Learners will be eligible for funding if they were aged over 19 on 31st August 2024 and have been resident in the UK for the last 3 years. Learners living in devolved areas (eg Greater London Combined Authority) will not be eligible for funding. Learners currently undertaking an apprenticeship will not be eligible for funding.

Price (non-funded learners): £580 

Price (funded learners): £348