Since we are all expected to have a good knowledge of winemaking basics, Andi Kollwentz restricts himself to a quick review of our winemaking handbook and a short film with visual demonstration of the most common techniques. He does a good job of presenting the winemaker's choices in the cuverie and the advantages and disadvantages of various techniques. It soon becomes clear that Andi Kollwentz is no country bumpkin that makes wine only because his father and grandfather did. He is a cosmopolitan wine maker with international experience and knowledge of the newest groundbreaking methods in enology. We learn specifics and discuss hot themes like most concentration, comparing saignée, vacuum evaporation, reverse osmosis and cyroextraction. Whether or not wood chips and inner staves produce the same results as barrel maturation is a subject that raises many questions among the students and leads us on to micro-oxygenation and macro-oxidation.

We don't just stop at wine making, but also discuss treatment of the wine, wine analysis, and packaging. Questions about clarification and stabilization are answered. We talk about the indications and reasons for chemical additives, what is allowed and what is taboo, and what in reality happens in the world of wine. Wine analysis and packaging sounds awfully dry, but these subjects are also presented in an interesting manner. Wine bottle closures bring out strong opinions among the seminar participants, as expected.

Like Bernhard Fiedler, Andi Kollwentz reviews some of the vinification questions from past exams. Here are some examples:

• Why and how can the acidity of most and wine be adjusted?
• Explain the reasons for the use of each of the following substances: a) potassium ferrocyanide b) sorbic acid c) ascorbic acid d) bentonit e)kieselghur
• Explain the roll of oxygen in fermentation and maturation.
• Explain the main points of cold sterile filtration in the bottling process, along with its advantages and disadvantages.

Clearly, the exam questions are quite specific and require a good understanding of the hows and whys of wine making. Andi Kollwentz also warns us about the 6 part questions and the need to be able to write something accurate about all six terms for a positive point count. There are times, he says, when questions that appear to be quite simple, like the one about acidity adjustment, are in fact quite complicated. We should take this into consideration when choosing which questions we answer on the exam. Taking the time to make a quick outline makes it clear in which questions we are most competent and can achieve the most points.

After lunch, we car pool to Roemerhof, the Kollwentz family winery in Grosshoeflein, just a 20 minutes drive away. Now I know why Andi Kollwentz knows so much about all the latest techniques and equipment; he's using it! He's set up older equipment models for us to look at side by side with newer technology. Various press models, crushers, destemmers, pumps, hoses, filters and other techie toys like a vacuum evaporation concentrator and a micro-oxygenation gadget are all set up for our inspection. It's so much easier to understand how these things function and differ from each other when you get to see them and have them explained by someone who works with them. As interesting as all of this is, it is the part of the cellar with all the small oak barrels that I find the most fascinating. Chardonnay is presently fermenting and we can see and hear it as big lazy bubbles plop occasionally up the little glass balloons in the barrel spouts.

The day's instruction has been great, but I realize I still have lots of study and reading ahead of me before I can confidently approach examinations! Tomorrow is another long day of seminars, but I decide to link up with a few other students to explore the gastronomy of Burgenland…..