School of Wine & Spirits Business launched

The first international institution fully dedicated to education and research in wine and spirits management has just been launched.

The School of Wine & Spirits Business (SWSB) has been set up by the Burgundy School of Business and is headed by Jérôme Gallo. The school is offering four academic programmes, a specialised research centre and 10 tenured lecturers and aims is to become an international reference in academic terms as well as the go-to institute for professionals from the wine and spirits industries.

Up until 2009, Burgundy School of Business’ wine management programmes admitted about 50 students a year. Since then the number has grown to an average of 100 students each year (103 for the 2013-2014 academic year).

In a statement about the launch, the school said: “Obtaining international leadership in the management of wine and spirits is one of the strategic goals of Burgundy School of Business, and will allow it to consolidate a long, widely recognised history of expertise in wine management and the global renown of its region, Burgundy, as a producer of top quality wines.

“In a global economy that has been affected by the economic crisis since 2008, the wine and spirits markets are almost alone in showing remarkable growth: the global wine market should increase by 5% in volume between 2012 and 2016 and the global spirits market by nearly 14%.”

The school launch follows on from the MSc in Wine Management that the Burgundy School of Business set up last year.