Principles of Winemaking

Plumpton College is a truly unique place to learn about wine. Spending time in the winery and being able to use the machinery really helps add another dimension to your understanding. I enjoyed the Principles of Winemaking course. In the morning, in the classroom there's a lot of information for you to absorb and in the afternoon you're in the winery, rolling up your sleeves and getting mucky. You quickly realise that the lecturers have a lot of experience. And learning in a small group makes it's really easy to ask questions. There was an interesting mix of people with a wide variety of backgrounds. Some wanted to start learning about wine and others, like me, are in the wine trade ( independent retail, selling to supermarkets, UK's largest bottling factory ) and a few people wanted a new career in wine production. Everyone seemed to be learning and enjoying it. Before taking the course i'd read books on winemaking but never felt like I understood it fully. Now I feel like I have a much better understanding. The course has managed to pull together all the pieces of the puzzle.”  Gavin Dealville is General Manager for award winning independent wine merchant Handford Wines where he works alongside two Masters of Wine. Before that he managed Harvey Nichols Wine department in Knightsbridge. In his spare time he runs EnglishWineJobs.com, a job noticeboard that advertises fine wine vacancies for free