How to Become An Expert Winemaker Online
Has your passion for wine ever led you into daydreaming of your own label, living like a rock star, with people lining up to buy you latest release and having your picture in Wine Spectator magazine? Or maybe, you're just tired of paying high prices for wine that isn't that great and you want to take a shot at making your own? Well, both of those are possible with the growing availability of online winemaking courses. With a little space for production and storage, some simple winemaking equipment, winemaking supplies and a little practice, just about anyone can join the growing number of amateur winemakers who have found the ancient craft of winemaking rewarding, affordable and fun.
Wine has been cultivated and produced for over 6000 years, but has been usually limited to those who had enough money to afford the land and all of the equipment. Starting in the 1970's, though, a the winemaking world opened up to the rest of us through affordable home winemaking kits that required basic equipment like glass jugs and mail ordered grapes. As with most things, the first novice attempts were quite poor and resembled Mad Dog more than Malbec. As the process has been refined and home winemaker's knowledge of the craft has increased, many hobbyists are producing some pretty quaffable stuff! In recent years, the growth and popularity of the craft has exploded; what was once a rather obscure club of enthusiasts has blossomed into major societal recognition.
Now, major colleges are getting in on the act. The Washington State University Enology and Viticultural Certificate Program has launched a self-directed study option to give you all you need to get started without the waiting and the high costs. The self-directed program has no exams, no assignments due, no contact with instructors , yet you have access via a Web site to view the same lectures that the certificate students receive. The only catch is that you don't get a certificate. But unless you want to make wine for someone else, there is no need for a certificate! The new program has several levels of winemaking courses, ranging from Viticulture and Enology to Wine Sanitation. The courses range in price from $75 to over $400.
This is just one of many examples of major college courses in winemaking that are now available all from over the United States and around the world. If you have the patience, and live in the right climate, you too can now cultivate your own vineyard and produce your own highly sought-after wine. Or, to go the simple route, you can buy the easy to use wine kits online, take a basic course or two and make an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah in your own home. I look forward to seeing your smiling face on the latest issue of Wine Stars of the Future Magazine! Oh wait. That magazine doesn't exist. Yet. Guess you'll have to take an online course for magazine making as well. Go forth in your passions- for as Robert Louis Stevenson says, "Wine is bottled poetry."
