Wine Studies: Wine Cellar Worker

The Wine Studies program has four majors: Wine Hospitality and Direct Marketing, Wine Marketing, Enology, and Wine Cellar Worker, to prepare students for a variety of positions in the wine industry.

The Wine Studies: Wine Cellar Worker degree teaches students, through hands-on experience, the theory and practices used in the production of wine, including basic grape growing practices and vineyard decisions, steps in the winemaking process from harvest to bottling, basic wine lab analyses, and use of winery production equipment. Students can also get a general background in the wines of Sonoma County and the world.

The Wine Studies: Wine Cellar Worker degree prepares students for entry-level positions as wine cellar workers. If students later choose to advance in responsibility to jobs such as assistant winemaker or wine laboratory technicians, they can take the classes required for the Wine Studies: Enology certificate or major. The Wine Studies: Wine Cellar Worker and Wine Studies: Enology degrees differ primarily in the chemistry and wine lab classes required for the Enology certificate.

For students interested in the Wine Studies: Wine Cellar Worker Certificate of Achievement, please see SRJC’s certificate website.

Estimated 10-15 completers annually.

1.           Execute all tasks required of an entry-level wine cellar worker.
2.           Describe the reason for winemaking procedures that are executed by a cellar worker.

The Wine Studies: Wine Cellar Worker degree prepares students for entry-level positions as wine cellar workers. If students later choose to advance in responsibility to jobs such as assistant winemaker or wine laboratory technicians, they can take the classes required for the Wine Studies: Enology certificate or major. The Wine Studies: Wine Cellar Worker and Wine Studies: Enology degrees differ primarily in the chemistry and wine lab classes required for the Enology certificate.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
CS 61.11A	Microsoft Excel, Part 1	1.5	S1
VIT 55	Basic Wine Grape Viticulture	3	S2
Wine 3	Intro to Enology	4	S2
Wine 42.1	Fall Winery Operations	2	S3
Wine 42.2	Spring Winery Operations	2	S4
Wine 70	Beginning Wine Sensory Analysis	1.5	S1
Wine 110	Advance Wine Sensory Analysis	1.5	S3
VIT 1 or Wine 1	Intro to Viticulture, Winemaking, Wines of the World	3	S1
Wine 111.1 or Wine 111.2	Sonoma Viticulture Areas, North County or Sonoma Viticulture  South County	1.5	S4
Total		20.00

More students will complete and have certificates to show for their coursework. Currently, students complete all the courses for this certificate but do not take the more advanced enology certificate because chemistry is required. These students do not need chemistry classes for jobs in the wine cellar.

Napa Valley College, approximately 40 miles away, offers 2 certificates and 3 degrees in Viticulture and Winery Technology. This program differs from Napa Valley College’s offerings.