Wine degree covers the map
Central Washington University has initiated a program aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Washington wines in a global marketplace.
The world wine program incorporates several aspects of the wine industry by combining business, marketing, economics and winegrape growing, wine production, quality control and pricing. The program offers a certificate in wine trade that teaches students about wine basics, professional wine analysis, trade and the global wine market.
Called Global Wine Studies, it is the first of its kind in the United States and will graduate its first students in the fall of 2009 with a bachelor of science degree in global wine studies.
The program is designed to attract students from all over the world, but most are from Washington state, said Amy Mumma, program coordinator.
"This degree is so different from other majors because students choose where they want to concentrate their education," Mumma said. "Internships in those areas are extremely valuable."
Students must also choose a minor area of their education, and CWU offers one that is tailor-made for the wine industry. The wine trade and tourism minor is an interdisciplinary program that includes education in tourism, hospitality services, wine sales and marketing, and tasting-room and event management.
"This is a very science-based degree that incorporates a chemistry and geographical background in order to create an education that can be focused with the student's interest areas in mind," Mumma said.
Students are taught the differences in wine produced around the world, and by graduation they can identify different wines and growing regions by taste. The students participate in a professional tasting course, where they are drilled on taste standards for certain wines in a professional setting.
"It's one of the hardest courses in the program," said Brad Snaza, a student in the world wine program. "We taste eight wines each class and then determine the quality and assign it a price."
Snaza has already earned the wine trade professional certificate and will be among the first global wine studies degree recipients. He became involved in the program when Mumma spoke to a class he was enrolled in, and his interest in the wine industry grew from there.
"Every day is so intense, and your brain can be jelly by the end of the day, but the program is so amazing that you want to go back the next day and learn more," Snaza said.
The program has teamed up with area wineries to give students hands-on experience. Goose Ridge Estate Winery, near Richland, allows students to tour the state-of-the-art vineyard, winemaking facilities and tasting room.
"We came out in January and learned how to prune the plants," Snaza said. "We actually got to walk down the rows and do some pruning ourselves."
The program allows people to learn about wine and form the networks the wine industry is based on, said Steve Womack, sales representative for Goose Ridge Estate Winery.
Womack attended a CWU consumer course to further his understanding of the wine industry, and he suggested that Goose Ridge Estate Winery might be able to give the students some hands-on experience.
Students gain the knowledge needed to be effective in the industry while seeing how things operate on the farm and in the wine-production facilities, Mumma said.
CWU also offers courses for consumers not enrolled in the world wine program. The next course will cover how weather patterns affect the wine, Mumma said. More than 2,500 people have participated in 70-plus courses since the program began.
"Consumers are our focus, and the consumer courses are the best thing because it educates consumers so they don't continue to think bad wines are good," Womack said.