EDUCATION
Studying wine Max Campbell BA International Wine Business Being a third-year student in the middle of a pandemic has certainly been an interesting experience. Coming back into college for these last few months has really made me realise the hurdles that my teachers have had to figure out. From spending most of the academic year learning through virtual lessons and having to plan things such as a research project amongst other things, the only thing I can say to those in charge of my course is – thank you. There has been support whenever I have needed, and the lessons have been tweaked and adjusted to help keep us engaged and learning. However, I am glad to be back in college, tasting, experiencing, and learning everything that Plumpton has to offer, I am honestly glad that Plumpton is where I chose to study. As for content in the third year – it’s such a great year. We get given fantastic modules aimed at getting us ready for the real-life wine business. We get to undertake research into a field that we want to discover. There is product design and innovation for those wanting to create and market their own ideas. And we delve into topics that I didn’t even know existed a year ago such as Wine & Philosophy, Luxury Wine Marketing and everything to do with ‘Fine Wine’. I think I can comfortably say, content wise it is the most engaging and practical year of study for me - and I think I’ll feel ready to start working as soon as graduation comes.
Kirsten Willis BSc Viticulture and Oenology
Starting a degree at any point in a person’s life can be daunting, but this year we had the added knowledge that we would be trying to negotiate the pandemic and the ever-changing restrictions. Online learning has been beneficial in certain ways, having lectures recorded that I can go back and refer to has been a real bonus. It seems that we have covered so much already, from chemistry, to environmental factors affecting decisions on vineyard sites, and currently working through high-level winemaking practices. Although we have missed out on the natural camaraderie within a lecture hall, I think that this year has created a great sense of ‘team’ amongst
the first-year students. We all know that it has been a year far from normal, and it seems that everyone is there to offer some help whenever someone needs it. Our days out in the vineyard with our lecturer, Tom, are great. I think the combination of learning something new and being outside working together creates a bit of a buzz. And as time goes by, I think it is clear that every one of my fellow students has a real passion and a certain level of ‘wine geek’. Just from the people I have met so far at Plumpton, I think that there is huge potential for what they will add to the UK wine industry in the future.
Edmund Cole BA International Wine Business
The third year of the degree has been rather abnormal as lectures have been transitioned online and the interaction with the overall cohort has been missed. Virtual learning has been an obstacle that all lecturers have overcome and they have been able to deliver a similar standard of teaching to the experience in class. In our final year, there is the need for additional support as students are under pressure from their self-led projects, and lecturers have been exceptional in fulfilling these needs. Personally, I would say that the virtual learning has not affected me as much as I thought it might have done. Accessibility to the library resources could have been a problem, however, with the use of modern digital platforms similar levels of interaction have been replicated online, and this has maintained high engagement from all students. Returning to class has relieved us from the persistent working through a screen. The final year is a lot more theory focused, which has facilitated the transition between in class to virtual sessions. The regional analysis modules of Alsace and Mendoza have provided an additional layer to our wine knowledge and have been critical in improving our analytical skills of data sets. We have been fortunate that the practical tasting sessions were able to be rescheduled - as the tasting experiences are always very interesting and transform the theory into a sense of reality. The product innovation module has been one of my favourite modules as it has allowed a greater level of creative thinking, and an opportunity to explore different aspects of the overall drinks industry. The understanding of the current trends in the industry has also been crucial in the design of the innovative product.
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