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PROGRAM DETAILS
This intensive, professional development program focuses on teaching
the fundamentals of grape production, winemaking, wine evaluation,
wine styles and the “business” of wine. The program is made up of
individual modules that fall into two separate professional levels:
Professional Level I and
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"This
cutting edge program gives students a balanced program that teaches
production, appreciation and the business of wine. The
cross-pollination inherent in this course is very effective at
providing the widest possible variety of opportunities and career
paths within the wine industry. Bravo!" -John W. Schultz is
President of WineSquire.com |
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Professional Level II. Upon completion of Professional Level II,
students will have the opportunity to participate in an optional
International Cooperative Learning Experience. Projected as a 10-day
“field trip,” the tour will allow students, under the direction of
program staff, to experience the wine business environment in
France, Australia, Chile, Argentina or Italy. The experience will
offer a unique opportunity to gauge, first-hand, the global
characteristics of wine trade from the fields of foreign vineyards,
to the production facilities, to the look and feel of the foreign
street markets.
CONCEPT
Two comprehensive, module-based certificate programs developed for
wine industry professionals and those seeking to broaden their
knowledge of the global wine environment.
BACKGROUND
The wine industry in the United States is expanding rapidly. Wine
Sales more than doubled in the US from 1991 to 2001 ($10.9 billion
to $21.1 billion). California’s wine industry is by far the largest
in the country and generated an estimated $12.3 billion in retail
sales in the U.S. in 1998. Tourism directly related to the wine
industry results in expenditures of $1.2 billion annually.
California, if it were a nation, would be the fourth leading wine
producer worldwide, and accounted for over $500 million in exports
in 1998, or an estimated 98 percent of wine shipped from the U.S.
The number of jobs created by the California wine industry is
equally impressive, numbering some 145,000.
According to the Washington Wine Commission, the total economic
impact of the wine industry in Washington State is $2.4 billion,
with a total retail value of an estimated $700 million. Washington
is the second largest producer in the United States. It is a rapidly
growing industry, expanding from 19 wineries in 1981 to over 200
producing wineries today. Twenty-nine thousand acres are planted
under vines and many growers are uprooting other agricultural crops
to plant the very profitable wine grape. The wine industry in
Washington now accounts for more than 11,000 full time jobs.
While smaller in size, the wine industry in Oregon still plays a
significant role in that state’s economy and has experienced similar
growth. In the last ten years (1992-2002) the number of wineries in
Oregon has increased from 78 to 217. It ranks fourth in production
in the U.S. and the sale of Oregon wines yielded $200 million in
2002. Together the wine industry of California, Washington and
Oregon make up the vast majority of U.S. wine production.
The rapid growth of the wine industry on the West Coast has also
created a shortage of workers with adequate knowledge of the wine
industry to ensure success of many new or relatively new operations.
Currently, there are few programs in the U.S. that exist for people
seeking to enter the wine trade or who are already employed as wine
professionals, that focus on the fundamentals as well as the
business of wine. Other programs that address the global environment
of wine, incorporating all aspects of the wine industry are located
outside of the United States with the most notable in the UK,
France, Australia and South Africa. The Institute of Masters of Wine
and the Wine and Spirit Education Trust are both based in London and
are internationally renowned for wine education programs.
The University of California at Davis and Washington State
University have undergraduate and graduate courses focusing
primarily on viticulture, wine science and research. The primary
focus of these programs, however, continues to be on the sciences
and less on the business environment. Central Washington
University’s (CWU) program would complement these programs by
addressing the global business of wine. CWU’s Wine Trade
Professional Certification will serve as a professional development
program for the thousands who hold intermediary wine-related
positions, such as restaurant wine stewards, wine sales
professionals and capital lending officers. CWU is in a unique
geographical position to offer the Wine Trade Professional
Certification program located just 30 minutes north of Washington’s
wine country and 90 minutes from Seattle. The university offers
generous conference and training facilities.
VISION
The Wine Trade Professional Certification will prepare students with
the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve success in many
wine-supported occupations. As program recognition becomes
widespread throughout Washington and other world wine regions,
employers will give preference to jobseekers that hold this
distinction.
Current and future wine professionals in the middle tier of the
industry (not growers/not winemakers) play a critical role in the
stateside and international reputation of our region. It makes sound
business sense to invest in the development of professional learning
opportunities for this important human resource of the industry.
For questions about this program, please contact:
Amy Mumma, Central Washington University, Wine Trade
Certificate Program, at (509) 963-1754.
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Wine
Trade Professional Certificate Program