More women fascinated by winemaking profession

According to the study, the average proportion of female trainees rose from 24% to 30% in the two five-year periods 2015 to 2019 and 2020 to 2024. This corresponds to an average of 82 young women per year who have started training as winemakers since 2020.
However, the analysis of the data on winemaker training has also shown that the wine industry has not been spared from the general decline in training figures. The total number of trainees in the winemaking profession fell by 13% to 684 between 2019 and 2023.

Job profile with a good image

What is striking is the relatively high proportion of lateral entrants who start training as winegrowers without a family background in viticulture. It is now estimated to be around half of all trainees, which is also due to the good image of the profession. With its numerous and varied fields of work, the winemaking profession is certainly one of the most versatile that you can learn. After all, the winemaker determines every single step that a wine goes through from the vine to the glass. This begins with planting the young vines in the right soil, continues with the care of the vineyards from pruning to harvesting and the subsequent processing of the grapes, through to winemaking with all its facets and the final marketing of the wine.

The areas of knowledge and application covered by the winemaking profession are correspondingly diverse. As part of the training, you learn how to use machines and technology of all kinds, you learn about the biological and economic relationships in the vineyard and cellar, how to taste wine professionally and how to present it to your customers.
"It is incredibly exciting to see how many different paths can be taken on the way to a wine in a glass. For this reason, the trainees often complete their apprenticeship in different training companies with different focuses," explains Ernst Büscher from the German Wine Institute i.e. Deutsches Weininstitut (DWI).

High proportion of women in Bachelor's degree programs

After the classic three-year or, for high school graduates, shortened two-year winegrowing apprenticeship, there are a variety of further training options, for example to become a master craftsman, technician or in various Bachelor's and Master's degree programs. At the Neustadt Wine Campus and at Hochschule Geisenheim University, it is also possible to complete a Bachelor's degree and a winemaking apprenticeship at the same time.

The bachelor's degree courses in wine at German universities are even more in demand among women than winegrowing courses. In the winter semester 2024/25, 46% of a total of 169 newly enrolled students were female.

"Generation Riesling" with more female members

The proportion of female members is also increasing in the young winegrowers association "Generation Riesling". In the association of currently 541 young leaders from the German wine industry, the proportion of women rose from 28 percent to 37 percent from 2019 to 2025. 

The photos used for this press release were taken during this year's DWI press trip "Women at the top - The wine industry is becoming more female".