The first-level university master’s program “Italian Wines and World Markets,” now in its 11th edition, has opened enrollment for the 2025-26 academic year. Organized by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa in collaboration with three Tuscan universities and the AIS, the master’s degree aims to train professionals in the communication and international marketing of Italian wine.
It is now accredited as a reference point for training professionals in communication and marketing in the wine sector, one of our country’s excellences. Now in its 11th year, the First-level university master’s degree “Italian wines and world markets” opens enrollment for the new academic year, with application deadline set on Oct. 6, 2025.
The master’s program, organized by the Sant’Anna High School of Pisa, jointly with theUniversity of Pisa, l’Siena University for Foreigners, l’University of Siena and theItalian Sommelier Association (AIS), has seen increasing success in recent years, demonstrating strong interest in the proposed training and the excellent professional prospects that are open to those pursuing this university degree.
In addition, the participation of universities reinforces the quality and breadth of the training proposal and confirms the interest of Tuscan university institutions in the master’s professional path, focused on national wine production.
The high level of employment and possible career outlets
The success of the master’s degree is evidenced by the employment level of those who have obtained the degree, thanks to the activation of professional relationships with companies, distributed in different regions of Italy, which also collaborate in the training activities through internships. Approximately 70 percent of those who started a job did so already at the end of the internship (provided for in the educational program) or even before the conclusion of the Master’s degree. Networking among those who have completed the master’s degree, through social media or newsletters, is also serving as an important communication and information tool for job opportunities in various fields.
The professional outlets are many and include, in particular, national and international promotion activities for both individual companies and collective brands, marketing management and responsibility., organization of events e wine tourism management and corporate hospitality, communication activities and strategies.
Therefore, the course trains a professional figure who, thanks to the knowledge of the principles of wine production, the mechanisms and tools of communication and marketing, as well as tasting techniques developed during the didactic activities of the Master’s program, is able to operate in the areas aimed at spreading the knowledge of Italian wines abroad, as well as their promotion and
to affirmation in world markets, considering both established markets (such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Scandinavian countries) and expanding markets (such as China, Korea, Russia, Brazil, Latin America), with a particular focus on “emerging” countries (e.g. Southeast Asia).
The AIS Sommelier Diploma
Master’s students also acquire wine tasting skills through the AIS sommelier diploma, achieved during the classroom activity. Special attention is also paid to the characteristics and trends of different world markets and international consumers.
The teaching staff of the Master’s program consists mainly of professionals in the various fields and topics offered, supported by a number of university professors. For many years, the Master’s faculty has included. Daniele Cernilli, regarding the Module III – Wine communication: journalism, criticism and public relations between old & new media.
Who can participate
The master’s program is directed toward bachelor’s degree graduates in any discipline who must submit an application accompanied by a motivational letter. The application for admission is also open to undergraduates, who have completed their proficiency examinations prior to the start of classes and who plan to acquire the entrance qualification during the course of the Master’s educational activities. It is possible to apply to participate in individual modules or as auditors. Some lectures will be held in English to facilitate the approach to international markets.
“Italian wine production continues to be one of the strengths of the national agri-food sector – comments Pietro Tonutti, director of the master’s program and professor of viticulture at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. – In recent years, Italy has not only become the leading nation in wine production worldwide but has also seen a very strong growth in the export sector with highly positive repercussions for companies that have invested energy and human resources in this direction.
The focus on local grape varieties (Italy is one of the countries with the highest wine biodiversity) and the territoriality, and the development and increasing application of sustainable practices and management (also in relation to climate change) of vineyard and cellar, combined with the high quality that characterizes a large part of national production, represent the strengths of Italian wine, which, despite a decline in wine consumption that is recorded globally, in 2024 reached the (record) value of 8.1 billion euros in exports”
New skills and management figures
“If this figure – continues Tonutti – as a whole is absolutely positive and comforting, signs that may foreshadow different scenarios should not be underestimated. If, in addition to consumption, consumer habits change and the markets that traditionally represent the strengths of our exports show signs of fatigue (or other geo-political issues), it is urgent to activate new strategies based on new skills and managerial figures capable of facing the present and the near future with different tools than those used in the past.
Business professional figures must therefore be rethought with a view to complementing the viticultural-enological and marketing skills with those more exquisitely of a socio-cultural and communication to be integrated with those related to the study of the characteristics of markets and types of international consumption and consumers. All aspects that the master’s program includes in an integrated mode in the training program “.
