Concepts in Viticulture and Wine Science

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

Flexible delivery involving online learning through the Learning Management System (LMS) and attendance at one 5 x day residential school. (Monday - Friday) Attendance at the school is required for successful completion of this subject. Under special circumstances, students with suitable experience in the industry may seek an exemption and complete replacement tasks.

Please contact Jacinta Way should you have any queries about accommodation, travel, etc.

Email: jway@unimelb.edu.au

Ph: 03 5833 9292

170 hours in total, including intensive teaching week

Attend week (Monday-Friday) teaching block at Dookie campus.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005) and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject has six modules in which it introduces topics that will be further developed in later viticulture and wine science subjects. The modules include an introduction to viticulture, soil, grapevine structure and function, pests and diseases, wine microbiology and wine chemistry.

This subject provides an introduction to the science of viticulture and oenology.

On completing this subject students will be able to:

• Show an appreciation of the relationship between viticulture and wine quality;
• Describe the general composition of soil and methods of classification of Australian soils;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil and their relationship to grape production;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of soil nutrients in the growth and development of grapevines;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between grapevine structure and function;
• Describe the events in the vegetative and reproductive cycles of the grapevine and their relationship to the production process;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the influence of environmental factors on quality grape and wine production;
• Apply knowledge of plant reproduction to grapevine propagation methods and evaluate the appropriateness of each method;
• Identify the major plant pathogens within the vineyard enterprise;
• Demonstrate a knowledge of the basic chemistry in the wine making process;
• Explain the wine yeasts and their role in the wine making process.

• Essay Assignment 1 - 2500 words (due approximately week 5 - 50%)
• Essay Assignment 2 - 2500 words (due approximately week 10 - 50%)

Dry, P.R. and Coombe, B.G. (eds) (2004) Viticulture. Volume 1: Resources. Winetitles, Adelaide.

Coombe, B.G. and Dry, P.R. (eds) (1992) Viticulture. Volume 2: Practices. Winetitles, Adelaide.

Rankine, B.(2004) Making Good Wine. Macmillan,Sydney,NSW

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.