Italian Wines and World Markets: registration is open for the 10th edition of the first-level university master’s program promoted by four universities in Tuscany together with the Italian Sommelier Association. Applications to participate by October 8.
It is the reference for training professionals in communication and marketing in the wine sector, one of our country’s excellences.
The first-level university master’s degree is now in its 10th year. Italian Wines and World Markets., now accredited as the point of reference for higher education in the specific sector of Italian wine production, and opens enrollment for the new academic year, with a deadline for applications on Oct. 8.
Throughout the years, the master’s degree, organized by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, jointly with University of Pisa, Siena University for Foreigners, University of Siena, in collaboration with Italian Sommelier Association, has met with growing success, both for those who have graduated and for the companies involved in the training project.
The collaboration between four universities in Tuscany strengthens the quality and breadth of the educational proposal and confirms the interest of Tuscan university institutions in the master’s professional path, which trains professionals in the international marketing and communication strategies of Italian wine, a figure increasingly in demand in the market.
Master’s degree success confirmed by employment data
The favor is evidenced by the employment level of those who have graduated, thanks to the activation of professional relationships with companies, distributed in many regions of Italy, which also cooperate in training activities through internships. About 70 percent of those who started a job did so by the end of the internship or even before the completion of the master’s degree.
The university consortium AlmaLaurea reports an employment rate of between 65 and 90 percent, within one year of graduation, for the previous six editions. Professional outlets are many and include, in particular, national and international promotion activities for both individual companies and collective brands, marketing management and responsibility, event organization and management of wine tourism and corporate hospitality, and communication activities and strategies.
The themes at the heart of the educational activity
Those who earn the degree acquire knowledge of the principles of wine production, the mechanisms and tools of communication and marketing, as well as tasting techniques developed during the didactic activities, and are able to work in the areas aimed at spreading knowledge of Italian wines abroad, as well as their promotion and affirmation in world markets, considering the established ones(United States, Germany, United Kingdom; Canada, Japan, Scandinavian countries ) and those in expansion(China, Korea, Russia, Brazil, Latin America), with a special focus on so-called “emerging” countries(Africa, Southeast Asia).
Students also acquire wine tasting skills, through the AIS sommelier diploma-achieved during classroom activities-about the territories that produce them and the qualitative, cultural, socio-economic and commercial implications, techniques and communication methods specific to wine products. Special attention is also paid to the characteristics and trends of different world markets and international consumers.
Who can participate
The master’s program is intended for undergraduate and graduate students in any discipline. The application for admission is also open to undergraduate and graduate students, who have completed their proficiency exams prior to the start of classes and plan to acquire the admission qualification during the course of the Master’s program’s educational activities. It is also possible to apply to participate in individual modules or as auditors. Lectures are provided in English to facilitate the approach to international markets.
Italian excellence viticulture
“Despite the reduction in production of the 2023 vintage, Italian viticulture continues to be one of the strengths of the national agri-food sector,” comments the director of the master, Pietro Tonutti, professor of viticulture at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna – and is a reference and often a model internationally with its excellence and wide production and management diversity. In recent very recent years, partly in relation to climate change and the reflections left by Covid, we are witnessing profound changes in global wine production and consumption.
These aspects need to be studied and addressed with great care, taking into account the inherent characteristics and timeframes required to adjust and upgrade wine supply chains. This is especially true for Italian productions, which are characterized by a strong diversity, highlighted by the increasing focus on local grape varieties and territoriality, and the need to increasingly develop and apply sustainable, vineyard and cellar practices and management.
These factors, combined with the high quality that characterizes a large part of domestic production, represent strengths of Italian wine, which, despite a decline in wine consumption recorded worldwide, has in fact managed to limit reductions, mainly due to cyclical factors, in export volumes and values in 2023.”
Increasing focus on export
“The export of Italian wine,” Pietro Tonutti continued. records positive numbers for the first months of 2024 that, in projection and in the absence of unfavorable economic dynamics, could lead to a total value of around 8 billion euros by the end of the year. International promotion is therefore a crucial factor for the success of the national wine sector with positive repercussions on other related areas as well, such as wine tourism, which is playing an increasingly strong role in business dynamics. However, it is necessary to move toward the development of innovative and effective communication strategies, as well as rapid adaptation to changes in the market and wine consumption trends in different countries. It also appears necessary to move toward expanding the destinations of Italian wine exports, to date 60 percent of which are directed to only five countries (Germany, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Japan).”
“To achieve this goal,” Pietro Tonutti concludes. – there is a need for professional figures characterized by a complementation of viticulture-enology and marketing skills with more exquisitely socio-cultural and communication skills to be integrated with those related to the study of the characteristics of markets and types of consumption and international consumers. These are all aspects that the master’s program includes in the training program.”
Master lecturers include Daniele Cernilli, Module III- Wine communication: journalism, criticism and public relations between old & new media.
Watch the video presentation here: https://youtu.be/AK0wVWJc4A8ala upper
