EDA Drinks & Wine Campus presents its training route: university degree in wine and beverages, six master's degrees and several specialization courses

• A University degree in wine and beverages, six master's degrees -two of them university- and several specialization courses will make up the training and educational proposal of EDA Drinks & Wine Campus
• The Basque Government promotes entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives throughout the food chain to attract talent, offer specialized training, promote entrepreneurship, innovation, research and knowledge transfer
• Studies promoted by the Basque Culinary Center-Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences of Mondragón Unibertsitatea, and designed in the innovative training model Learning by Doing
• Holistic perspective and with international projection from the headquarters of Vitoria-Gasteiz and Laguardia.

Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country - January 29, 2025

 EDA Drinks & Wine Campus has already defined its training proposal: a University degree in wine and beverages, six master's degrees, two of them university-level, and several specialization courses, will make up the educational catalog offered under the umbrella of the Basque Culinary Center-Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences of Mondragón Unibertsitatea, at its headquarters in Vitoria-Gasteiz and Laguardia. The Ministers of Science, Universities and Innovation, Mr Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, and of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries, Mrs Amaia Barredo, presented this morning at the headquarters of the Basque Government in Vitoria-Gasteiz, together with Joxe Mari Aizega, director of the Basque Culinary Center, the training content of the new Araba campus.

The proposal has been created based on active listening to the sector and responding to opportunities and challenges. In addition, various sector studies have been carried out by EDA Drinks & Wine Campus in order to identify spaces of opportunity.

To do this, the different requirements of the beverage sector in terms of training have been analysed. Mr Joxe Mari Aizega, General Manager of the Basque Culinary Center, has pointed out that “we have always sought to achieve academic excellence, with innovative programmes that train professionals who will lead the transformation of the sector, from a global perspective. We have drawn up a very challenging roadmap in which a degree stands out that is unique at an international level and whose final objective is the continuous transfer of knowledge to the wine and beverage sector”.

In this sense, during the presentation, the Minister of Universities, Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, stressed that “it is an innovative project precisely because its objective is to transfer knowledge - directly to the sector in the form of new products and processes - and, indirectly, through the training of people with degrees in new areas. It therefore aspires to become an international reference point, in order to attract talented people, professionals who transform and impact the sector.”

Pérez also stressed that “this project shows that science and innovation do not only refer to products and processes of the 21st century.” In his words, “there are few better examples than this one where innovation occurs in something, such as wine, whose production has accompanied humanity since the emergence of what we know as civilization.”

Mrs Amaia Barredo, Minister of Food, Rural Development, Agriculture and Fisheries. Food, has stressed that “The first sector has a strategic importance for our country, it is a key element for the cohesion of the Basque Country and constitutes an essential axis for our balance”.

“This sector, as is the case in a good part of the European Union, is not enjoying its best moments and for this reason, from the Basque Government and the Territorial Councils, we are working on its updating, renovation and modernisation. Each problem that arises in the field, in the stables, in the threshing floors, in the vineyard, and in the rural world, is analysed and attended to in this Department. That is why we emphasise the positioning of Rioja Alavesa -of all Araba and Euskadi/Basque Country- as a territory of excellence and innovation” added Minister Barredo.

For Barredo, “this initiative is carried out by listening to and working with the entire food and drink value chain, we are taking these new steps full of ambition and international reference. In the world of wine, Rioja Alavesa represents our tradition and connection with the first sector: it is about our essence, values, culture, excellence and our identity as a people. The initiative represents a new international positioning.”

“The first sector represents a fundamental pillar of our society. An indispensable element for the social cohesion, sustainability and territorial development of our country. The good global reputation for excellence and innovation in gastronomy that Euskadi has is already a guarantee for this initiative. It is a territory in which to train, research and produce” added Amaia Barredo in the press conference.

According to the Minister, “Euskadi is among the countries that lead the new food sector internationally and, from the Basque Government - here we are today two of its departments - we promote entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives throughout the entire food chain. ‘EDA Drinks and Wines Campus’ will be an important attraction to attract talent, offer specialized training, promote entrepreneurship and innovation and try to develop lines of research focused on the transfer of knowledge to the sector.”

Mr Vicente Atxa, rector of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, said: "We firmly believe in the importance of a comprehensive and global education. The EDA Drinks & Wine Campus project strengthens the educational offer of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, allowing our students and professionals to specialise in the wine and beverage sector. This way, they can access sectors that have a high demand for innovative and transformative professionals. The Basque Culinary Center, our Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences, and the EDA Drinks & Wine Campus strengthen the competitiveness of the sector by promoting research, innovation and entrepreneurship, fundamental pillars of our university vision."

Training offer

This training offer will be made up of a university degree, six master's degrees, two of them university-level, and several specialization courses. In addition, it is open to the possibility of including new academic proposals for the future with the aim of offering global, transversal training in which all the actors in the liquid sector value chain are involved.

EDA Drinks & Wine Campus has an Expert Committee with representatives from all the links in the value chain and which advises the entity by providing focus and ideas. This knowledge has also been taken as a basis for the design of the training offer.

The project manages to offer its future students’ programs with which innovative professional profiles will be developed, with which the transfer of knowledge is guaranteed, all supported by a vision of community, transversality and interdisciplinary dialogue.

University degree in wine and beverages

One of the most groundbreaking proposals of EDA Drinks & Wine Campus is its University Degree in Wine and Beverages, unique in the world and pioneering in terms of its holistic vision of the sector. As Joxe Mari Aizega has pointed out, “this training has been configured thanks to a very demanding roadmap, based on academic excellence and following the proven methodology of the Basque Culinary Center”.

This degree has been designed with the aim of responding to the needs of a sector in constant evolution. Innovation and excellence form the basis on which the subjects taught in it will revolve, which will allow students to obtain a global vision of this universe. All of this will be carried out through ‘learning by doing’, the methodology used in the Basque Culinary Center training and in which practice is at the epicentre of the studies.

Although the roadmap for this degree is already defined, its first edition is expected to start with the beginning of the 2027-28 academic year. This training will be carried out from the Vitoria-Gasteiz headquarters, except for those modules related to topics on the wine sector that will be taught in Laguardia.

Six master's and postgraduate courses

In addition to the University Degree in Wine and Beverages, EDA Drinks & Wine Campus will offer six master's degrees that will revolve around the liquid universe. The six proposals are the following:

- University Master's Degree in Innovation in Beverages. Designed for those who wish to be part of a new trend regarding the consumption of beverages, with specific modules dedicated to NOLO. The syllabus, with a global and transversal perspective, allows for a complete vision to be acquired and for opportunities to be detected and promoted in innovation.

- University Master's Degree in Viticulture and Oenology. It goes beyond other more conventional proposals thanks to the combination of innovation, digitalisation and sustainability.

- Master's Degree in Continuing Education in Innovation and Brewing Technology. This training, designed together with the National Brewers Association, responds to the requests and demands of the sector, with innovation at its core. Thus, it is positioned as a spearhead at a global level.

- Master of Continuing Education in Spirits. With a multidisciplinary perspective and a comprehensive approach, it allows students to obtain a 360º view of the sector, providing solutions to some of its major challenges such as sustainability, digitalization and responsible consumption practices.

- Master of Continuing Education in Innovation in Sommelier. It fuses the art and science of sommelier with technology, sustainability and the latest gastronomic trends. With alliances with prestigious restaurants and production areas, this training offers an integrative vision of the sommelier profession, applying it to all types of drinks: wines, spirits, beer, coffee, tea, sake, NOLO, etc.

- Master in Continuing Education in Marketing and Business of Wine and Beverages. Special emphasis on commercial negotiation, branding and analysis of success stories, enhancing differentiation. It will have specific modules aimed at deepening the digitalisation of the sector, e-commerce, with access to data and advanced analytics. Issues on sustainability and social responsibility will be explored in depth.

As with the degree courses, these master's degrees will be taught both in Vitoria-Gasteiz and in Laguardia; the first location will be used for those studies that apply to the liquid universe in all its aspects, while the second will host those students who specialise in the world of wine.

In terms of possible career opportunities, the wine and beverage sector covers multiple professions that open up a wide range of possibilities for students of these courses. The different training programs range from technical, commercial or communication and marketing management in the world of beverages, to profiles more focused on analytics and research and even linked to the HORECA sector, with experts in mixology, hospitality and restaurant cellar management, among others.

Thus, the different training programs will provide the labour market with specialized profiles such as winery manager, technical winery manager, viticulture manager, oenologist, microbiologist or sensory scientist, beverage researcher, brewery, cider house or distillery manager; master brewer, cider maker, distiller, purchasing manager in a brewery, cider company, distillery; commercial director in a brewery, export, import, marketing manager for spirits; manager in a sommelier team in a restaurant or in a winery, brewery, distillery; beverage trainer, marketing manager, export & marketing manager, purchasing manager in a winery and specialized stores or controller in a winery, among others.

Specialization courses

EDA Drinks & Wine Campus will also offer several specialization courses. For the moment, both a Cider Training Course and an Advanced Coffee Course and a course related to the NOLO universe have been confirmed. In the future, training courses will be offered for enthusiasts, as is already the case at the Basque Culinary Center faculty in Donostia-St Sebastián. In addition to this ecosystem, there will be the training courses that are already a reality, and that EDA Drinks & Wine Campus already has underway, such as the Master of Sommelier and the WSET Courses at levels 1, 2 and 3.

 In this way, EDA Drinks & Wine Campus offers a unique educational offer where innovation and a 360-degree vision are above all else, with excellence as the main premise and with the security provided by both the support of an entity such as the Basque Culinary Center and Mondragón Unibertsitatea, the university to which its Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences belongs.