Chris Foss, Head of Wine Department, is half-French and Bordeaux-trained. After completing a Microbiology degree in the UK, he returned to France to study wine, and manage the family vineyard in the Entre-Deux-Mers. During this time, he worked in vineyards and wineries in Sauternes (Chateau d’Yquem) and St Emilion, becoming Winemaker for the GFA Leclerc vineyard group.

He moved to the UK in 1985 and became captivated by education. After completing a Post-Graduate-Certificate and spending three very formative years in the secondary sector, he moved to Plumpton to start courses in Wine Production in 1988.

The Wine Department at Plumpton now comprises:

• 8 hectares of vineyard on three different sites, much of it recently-planted
• A fully-equipped commercial winery, producing around 20 000 bottles of wine a year
• A purpose-built Wine Centre with teaching, research and conference facilities and a dedicated wine evaluation room
• A Wine Department staff team of 10, including four Lecturers in Wine Production and two Lecturers in Wine Business
• Three full-time undergraduate courses in wine (delivered in association with the University of Brighton) attended by over 140 students
• 11 part-time wine courses attended by over 350 students
• The Wineskills industry training project, delivering courses all over the UK to around 1000 students a year

Chris Foss and the Wine Department at Plumpton College are developing:

• Wine research activity; working in partnership with the Universities of Geisenheim, Reims, Ulster and Brighton, and with CHR Hansen, Chateau de Sours, and Mac Multiples
• Sustainability guidelines for the UK Wine Production industry
• An information database designed to provide reliable, relevant and up-to-date information for the UK Wine Industry

Chris has visited most of the wine producing areas of the world and attended conferences in France, Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

In June 2010 he delivered a presentation at the International Symposium for Cool Climate Viticulture & Enology in Seattle, Washington, USA, entitled The English (and Welsh) Wine Industry – developing a golden opportunity.