A foundational course

The WSET are some of the most recognized programs for wine education and they offer many options for completing the class – everywhere from wine shops (like Berry Brothers or Davys Wine Merchants) to fully virtual. In London, they are also have a school for their courses.

Who Its For

• People new to wine to want to learn the basics about tasting and wine regions

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Key Takeaways:

• This class is an overview of many styles of wines, not exclusively champagne.
• They teach a helpful tasting methodology which can be applied to any wine, including champagne.
• It covers production of a variety of popular wine styles and the most well-known wine regions at a high level.
• The exam is multiple choice and there is no tasting component.

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Course Overview

Signing up online was easy and there is a web portal to access class information. While it won’t win any design awards, it was easy enough to use and I really only checked it to know what to expect before the class started.

I opted to complete the class in 3 consecutive days at their London school. The school itself is what you’d expect from a bare bones classroom, including a sterile environment and uncomfortable chairs.

There is a booklet and several other leaflets that needed to be read in advance. It was easy reading and thoughtfully presented, with lots of helpful maps and relevant photographs. Electronic copies of the materials are only available if you need them for accessibility reasons – I suspect this it to prevent sharing them with people who haven’t paid for the class. I really would have preferred a digital copy so I could refer to it when I’m not at home.

The course itself ran from 9-4 each day, including the final exam on the last day. Each day included a huge breadth of wines from a particular region so you could really get a sense of a certain varietal or area. I found their tasting methodolgy relatable and the instructors were engaging.

The final afternoon was the exam. It was a typical multiple-choice “fill in the bubbles” kind of test. There were no trick questions, and though I had to do a lot of geography memorization, I didn’t find it too challenging. There was more than ample time to complete it. My only complaint is that it took months to receive the results, which is ridiculous as the teacher could have hand-scored it in minutes. And it took many, many months beyond that to get the certificate.

Summary

If you’re looking for a foundational program about wine, this is a great option. Champagne is only lightly covered but will teach you the basic principals.

Though I haven’t taken Level 3, I have seen the materials. The course goes deeper on all the regions, introduces more varietals, and the exam includes a tasting component. The Wine Scholar Guild course still offers the deepest champagne knowledge of the course I have completed… though I have some caveats on that one. If you want to focus on champagne, the Champagne Specialist course is a better option.