Bottles of Israeli wines. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem plans to introduce a degree in winemaking. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem plans to introduce a degree in winemaking in the coming academic year.

The program, recently accredited by the Israel Council for Higher Education, will offer viticulture, enology and winery-oriented business management studies. The course will be the first of its kind in Israel and cater to students with undergraduate degrees in life sciences and applied sciences.

The 18-month program includes traveling to Europe to attend professional workshops hosted by international experts. Graduates will also have the opportunity to intern in commercial wineries in Israel and abroad.

The program aims to meet the increasing demand among Israelis for university-level winemaking studies — a demand that has arisen from the growth of the Israeli wine industry in recent years; increasing wine consumption in Israel; and what has been described as Israeli consumers’ “professional approach” to fine wines.

“This program seeks to puts Israel on the international map of winemaking,” said program director Professor Zohar Kerem, a world-renowned researcher in the fields of food chemistry and wine and olive oil quality. “The program is derived from other leading winemaking programs in the world, adapted to Israel. What’s unique for Israel is the fascinating mix of new and old worlds. We have everything in terms of the diversity of soil, vines and climate regimes, alongside groundbreaking technologies, such as in the field of irrigation.”