Wineries are more and more looking for wine technicians, “ready to work as soon as they leave school”

Italy’s wine industry has reached the peak of world success. Merit is due also to its schools, starting with agricultural technical institutes specializing in viticulture and oenology. These schools, over the past few decades have trained the professionals who have led our denominations to reach excellent qualitative levels, that is, wine technicians. The wine technician is a professional role that knows no crisis, and that the wineries are seeking more and more, as Professor Manuel Penasa, director of the Education and Training Center of the Edmund Mach Foundation explained, “they are ready to work as soon as they leave school, thanks to the excellent practical and operational part of their training”. The prestigious institution (which this year celebrates its 150th anniversary), is the leader in the network of Italian wine schools. It includes, to date, 15 institutes (Conegliano, Alba, Ascoli Piceno, Avellino, Cividale del Friuli, Rome, San Michele all'Adige, Siena, Macerata, Todi, Marsala, Locorotondo, Cagliari, Voghera and Catania).
The qualification of wine technician is achieved after having attended one of the agricultural institutes (including the sixth year specialization), and after having passed the State exam. “In our experience”, Manuel Penasa, director of the Education and Training Center of the Mach Foundation, added, “wine companies contact future wine technicians even before completing the course of study. Therefore, this professional role has a direct line to the job market, also because it is a fairly limited number each year, considering that among the graduates there are some who decide to continue their studies, or that have a “family activity to dedicate themselves to”. The assembly of the network - founded in 2009 and involving agricultural schools that have a special organization in viticulture and oenology - was held recently in San Michele all’Adige. The aim of the assembly was to encourage discussion and exchanges on nature issues as well as didactic, technical and programmatic issues to safeguard the specifics of the training course reserved for future sector experts, acting as a major interlocutor with the relevant Ministries. The meeting included 11 head teachers from Italian wine schools and revolved around the institutional nature and technical insights, including a discussion on the future of the post-diploma course for wine technicians.
“Considering the fundamental role of coordination of Italian wine schools assigned to the Foundation, we hope that”, Mirco Maria Franco Cattani, president of the Mach Foundation, explained, “at the National level, the competent organizations will carried forward a project to enhance viticultural and oenological teaching, a path that is of fundamental importance for our institute, as it is strongly linked to its history and origins”.