BENGALURU: The Karnataka Wine Board is planning to introduce courses on different wine regions in India to educate candidates about wine culture, wine making, grapes are grown and other details. So far, the syllabus of wine courses offered by the Board was limited to the Karnataka region.
The Board has been conducting Wine Education, Appreciation and Tasting (WEAT) courses for the last few years in collaboration with Wine and Spirit Education Trust, London. WEAT is certified and sponsored by the Board, Government of Karnataka.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Sarvesh Kumar R S, General Manager of the Board, said that the course offered by the London-based trust is expensive, with the fee costing up to Rs 30 lakh.
“We are offering short-term courses for hotel management graduates, horticulture students, budding entrepreneurs and other stakeholders, free of cost,” he said.
According to Sarvesh, the Board has been offering the courses for the last seven years and 8,000 candidates have benefited from them. Candidates will get to taste a variety of wines and learn to distinguish between them.
Candidates to learn to make different types of wine
Candidates will also learn how to ferment grapes, besides being trained in viticulture (art and science of growing grapes), storage and service of wines, and food pairing.
“Growing grapes and ripening is the major process involved in manufacturing wine. Industries contribute only 20 per cent to the wine-making process. In India, we have many grape valleys like the ones in Nasik and Pune. In Karnataka, it is in the Cauvery and Krishan river valleys. Through our course, candidates will learn to make different varieties of wine.” he added.
The Board has called tenders for service providers. These service providers should have a team of teachers, with at least one of them being a holder of WSET (London). The Board is also offering paid courses for private individuals, but the minimum number of candidates in each group should be at least 20, Sarvesh said.