The Structure of University Level Oenology Education in Europe and Comparison with Turkey

Abstract

Turkey is an appropriate country for viticulture due to its favourable climatological characteristics. Although Turkey produces plenty of grapes in the fertile soil and is one of the world's leading countries in terms of vineyard area, it is known that only 11% of the grapes produced are used in wine production. The difficulties encountered at every stage of the wine sector in Turkey are reflected in oenology education briefly defined as the science of wine and it is observed that the number of schools training qualified personnel in the field of wine is low. However, Turkey's closest rivals in terms of vineyard area and production quantities of grapes take place on the European continent where the situation is quite different. In these countries, the education of oenology is of great importance, and those who have completed the oenology education are given the title of oenologist. The purpose of this study prepared with content analysis method was to compare the oenology education in Turkey to oenology education in Europe and put forward some suggestions for oenology education in Turkey. As a result of the study, the following conclusions have been reached: Oenology education in Turkey is a neglected area of study for a lot of different reasons, oenology education is not given at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels, and wine production technology education is given only in one state university at the associate's degree level. It is thought that the study will contribute to the literature, next researchers, the wine sector, and especially the institutions that provide education on wine.