WSET Wine Education | + My Experience

Hi everybody, this is Agnesa from No Sediment and today we're going to talk about wine education, more specifically about WSET. For full disclosure, I would like to say that I am not an educator for WSET and neither do I work for them. Therefore, what I as a WSET diploma level graduate can give and share with you is my personal experience and hopefully this information will be helpful for you to decide if this education is something that you want or need to pursue. In this video, I will talk about different levels of wine education WSET has to offer, to whom each level could be beneficial for and at the end I will share the experience throughout my own journey. But first, quick overview. WSET or Wine and Spirit Education Trust was founded in 1969 and is based in London, UK. They provide globally recognized education in wine, spirits and also sake. WSET qualifications and certifications are often required for different professions such as sommelier working on the floor, employees of wine and spirit importers and retailers, as well as variety of occupations in the wineries. And it is also not that uncommon for people with no interest to work in the wine or related industries pursue this education out of enthusiasm and love for wine. WSET offers four qualification levels for wine, so let's go through them one by one. I will be completely honest, if you have worked in horeca, winery or for wholesaler retailers specializing in the wine sales, you might feel completely comfortable to skip level one and start with level two. However, if you have no previous experience in this field or you're just starting out, this might be a great introduction for you. It is easy to get lost in all the information available on wine in the worldwide web and different books, so level one will give you good foundations on which to build your future knowledge. Level two might seem simple to those who have worked in the wine industry for a while, however, this is where you should start. Meaning that if you have a deeper knowledge in wine, you can skip level one, but you should not skip level two. Here, students are introduced with the classic grape varieties, wine regions and styles. And even though you will be tasting wines throughout your studies, to pass level two exam, it is not required to do the blind tasting, same as for level one. To pass, you will have to take 50 multiple choice question exam, so it is all about theory. Level three or advanced, this is where I started back in the day. Now, this level is more serious, as it requires deeper knowledge of viticulture, winemaking, wine regions and geography, and classic grape varieties. Next to that, in addition to the exam of multiple choice and open response questions, you will be required to taste two wines in blind and assess their style and quality, which in my opinion is the hardest part. First, three levels are recommended and sometimes obligatory if you work in the wine industry, but it can also be very exciting and interesting for those who not necessarily work with wine. Lastly, comes diploma or level four, which would be most beneficial to wine professionals who want to deeper their knowledge and develop expertise in the field. To acquire this qualification, you no longer are expected to simply know the facts, but you must provide educated and analytical answers. I passed mine when it was diploma in wines and spirits, however, nowadays it is only about the wine and the part about the spirits is no longer requirement. Syllabus is divided in six units, which include wine production, wine business, sparkling wines, fortified wines, and the largest one, wines of the world, which basically covers all the still wines produced in the world. And the last one is independent research assignment. To get diploma, you must pass all six units. With the exception of research assignment, you will be required to answer open response questions and sparkling wines, fortified wines, and wines of the world will also require successfully passing blind tasting. Lastly, few words about my experience. Before I enrolled in WSAT, I had already studied a lot about wine and was also working in the wine industry for about six years. However, my studies were chaotic and lacked structure. Therefore, I could have deep knowledge in certain topics while lacking any knowledge of other generally accepted facts. WSAT helped me to gather all that information and systemize it, thus revealing my weaknesses and strengths. To be honest, it also gave me some confidence because diploma level is not easy and it requires a lot of discipline to pass. I actually started my diploma in London, which at that time was distance education, meaning that I had to manage my own time. And unfortunately, it also meant no winery visits and limited ability to create deep and meaningful relationship with other students. I quit after the first exam and decided to move my diploma studies to Austria Rust, which was organized in person. And I never regretted this decision. Wine Academy Osterreich is an amazing place to study about wine. First of all, because you are surrounded by the vineyards. And we literally went out and met winemakers and viticulturists who explained us about prunings, grafts, diseases, you name it. Second of all, we had amazing lecturers. Some of them were masters of wine, others from Geisenheim University. And I felt that they gave me much more than was actually expected of them. And lastly, I got to know my fellow students. It is amazing to share your love for wine with someone. It is also great for networking, as some of the students and lecturers later helped me in my masters of wine journey. So if WSET wine education seems something that you would be interested in, check their website for the closest place to study in your area. Understanding and talking about wine means you have to use a specific vocabulary. You might want to check out my other video on wine terms.