World of Wine: From Grape to Glass – University of Adelaide

Please note I completed this course in 2015 – some aspects may have changed since. There are also some affiliate links in this post, which means at no cost to you, I may earn a small amount of commission if you click through and purchase.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for the last 6 months! I wanted to let you guys know if the World of Wine: From Grape to Glass – by the University of Adelaide free online wine course was any good when I did it back in April-May of this year, but time has escaped me! So would I recommend it?

Hell yes I would! I was actually really surprised that I found the course both insightful and fun. It had such a good blend of interactive activities and discussions that was really enjoyable. Plus you were encouraged to drink wine while studying so seriously how can you not like it?

I definitely find a lack of wine appreciation courses here in Perth in particular. Many of the courses I mentioned in my 2014 Wine Courses in Perth blog post either no longer run or sporadically run classes so this online course is a good alternative.

How the course works

It’s a 6 week online wine course which is self-paced and involves tasting activities, useful videos, discussions with other participants from all over the world and wine colour, taste and aroma charts. The resources are downloadable and make understanding the world of wine a lot more approachable.

The instructors for the course are all wine big-wigs from Adelaide Uni lead by Kerry Wilkinson the Associate Professor of Oenology. All instructors come across easy to understand and highly knowledgable. If you do find they’re using a lot of technical terms then I’d suggest having the course glossary open in another window.

What do you learn?

In 6 weeks you learn a lot. Everything from wine styles and understanding your palate to viticulture (what happens in the vineyard to the vines), wine production, winemaking and more!

The course highlights

The course really got off on a good foot for me, I loved the interactive activity of learning more about tannins and acidity through black tea and lemon juice during the first week of the course.

But I think the best for me had to be week 4 when we created our own virtual wine – a great test of what we’d learnt and just so much fun! It looks like my Margaret River Chardy turned out well…

How the course was assessed

At the end of each week there was a multiple choice online test as well as a task to contribute to the forums. As you complete each section you tick it off which makes it easy to pick up and put down as you go along at your own pace.

I was super stocked to receive 96% overall! Despite having worked in the wine industry and having done my WSET Advanced level 3 certification I still really enjoyed the course which is why I think obsessed oenophiles like me or those simply wanting to learn more about the world of wine will enjoy it.

What does it cost?

It is a free online wine course however you can pay to receive a verified certificate from the University of Adelaide which is handy if you work in the wine industry or want to use the cert professionally.

edX is a non-profit organisation which continues to thrive and offer free education globally due to students purchasing the verified certificates. So I urge you to opt for one and it’ll also give you something to show off to those around you!

What’s next?

Once done you have full access to all the learning resources which I think is pretty cool. You can also download the My Wine World app which was released by the course team as well.

For more info and to enrol for the next round of the course click here and keep up to date with the latest news on the Wine101x Facebook page.