791-046 Oenology

Credit Points

HECS Band

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Subject Description

The objective of this subject is to enable students to: understand how the critical steps in wine fermentation may be managed; identify the different characteristics of the major wine types; state the effects of each stage of the wine making process on the quality of the finished product; explain how adjustments and modifications can be made to the basic process of manufacture to alter characteristics; evaluate the benefits of different approaches to mechanisation and automation; state the origins of defects in quality in different wine types; state the legal requirements determining the manufacture of different wines and related products; apply and evaluate appropriate methods of analysis and evaluation of wine.

The content includes the wine making process, wine types and styles, the chemical composition of wine, the adaptation of the wine making process to the manufacture of standard wine types; vinification, juice conditioning, acidity adjustments, physical instability, fining (absorption), clarification, refrigeration, filtration, and ion exchange; unit operations and processing equipment such as crushers, drainers, presses, centrifuges, filters, membrane filters, pumps and fillers, heat exchange and refrigeration, and analysis and evaluation of wine and techniques employed.

Assessment

Five practical reports of 500 words each (20%), assignment of 2000 words (20%), two 2 hour written examinations (30% each).