“The best wines start in the vineyard and with the people who tend to it every day,” says Hanno van Schalkwyk, Vinpro viticulturist who heads up the training. “Vinpro’s series of vineyard training courses help producers and teams get the best out of their vines by understanding how today’s practices will affect the harvest and eventually the wines on the shelf.”
Vinpro has made these courses available to the industry since 2012 and in 2018 close to 1 500 persons were trained in 68 sessions. The content has also been expanded this year to ten modules, each of which are presented as separate sessions.
Different training options are available, the most popular option beingthe one day course. “Our trainers kick off the day with a presentation and video, which students can follow in their printed notes. After lunch we go out to the vineyard and hone our skills further by means of a practical demonstration,” says Hanno.
Producers can opt to register their teams for any of these prescheduled one day sessions, or contact the training office to request that a session be held on their farm. Half day courses are also available on request, which focuses on demonstrations only as a quick refresher course.
The following one day courses are available:
Vineyard establishment: 7 – 28 May
Pruning: 29 May – 19 June
Soil management: 25 June
Identification of pests and diseases: 2 – 31 July
Fertilising: 17 July
Irrigation: 1 – 22 August
Soil science: 15 August
Vine development: 3 – 25 September
Harvesting of wine grapes: 17 September
Canopy management: 26 September – 10 October
The courses are predominantly presented in Afrikaans, with specific sessions presented in English. The one day course is presented at R300 per person and the half day course at R180 per person.
Visit www.vinpro.co.za for more information about the specific training sessions in your region, or contact the training office at 021 276 0429 or training@vinpro.co.za.