Wine Education

Is the WSET Level 2 Right for You? My Experience

If you are looking to further your wine education, you may be starting to consider taking a course or earning one of the many different types of certifications. But how do you know which one is right for you?

Well, I can’t speak for all of them (that would cost a fortune!) but I can tell you why I chose the WSET, and how my experience has been so far.

WSET, or the Wine and Spirit Educational Trust, is a global organization that provides well-recognized certifications in wine, spirits, and sake, and is open to both professionals and amateurs. In fact, at the lower levels, the vast majority of the participants are people just like you and me – people who love wine, and want to learn a little bit more.

I have just recently completed my Level 2 course, so I thought it would be a great time to share my experience with you.

Side note: at the time of writing, I have not received my results yet, but I’m pretty sure I “crushed” that test 😀

My first experience with the WSET was in 2019. I wanted to treat myself to a special 30th birthday present, and I decided that I would take the WSET Level 1 class. My mom even flew out for the weekend and joined me, just to make it extra special.

Level 1 is a single day course, with a brief multiple choice exam at the end. They even send you your study materials in advance, in case you are a nerd like me and want to memorize EVERYTHING.

We both had a blast, but I definitely think my mom took away more new information than I did. I had already worked in a winery for two summers, and had done a lot of self-directed learning about wine, whereas my mom just enjoys a glass with dinner and doesn’t think too hard about it. She learned a ton! But I found there were only a few things in the curriculum that I didn’t already know.

Even though I loved the class, and our instructor (hey, Samantha Wall!) was fantastic, I felt like I hadn’t really challenged myself.

And that’s where my “addiction” really began. Because the biggest thing I learned was that there was so much MORE to learn!

I knew I had to take level 2.

So in 2020, I signed myself up – as another birthday present of course. Unfortunately, we only got one day into the three day course before Covid-19 reared it’s ugly head, and we weren’t allowed to continue.

Several times after that it was rescheduled, only to be postponed again and again. The organization who was presenting the course (Fine Vintage Ltd.) managed it well though! They even gave us access to their own Level 2 in Wines online course, so we could scratch that eager-to-learn-itch.

At the time it was frustrating, because I used up a LOT of my vacation days. But looking back, I can see that it was a blessing in disguise. I didn’t cancel any of those vacation days (my replacements had already been scheduled), and instead I selected different online wine courses to fill the time.

Then, like all the other times before, a new class time was rescheduled. Nothing had changed in the restrictions, so I decided I was sick of “wasting” my vacation time when I KNEW it would be cancelled again. Turns out I was wrong. They were able to get an exemption to run the course because it is considered Vocational Training. But it’s not my vocation, and my last minute attempt to get time off was a bust.

Desperately, I asked Fine Vintage if I could transfer my course tuition to another date. And graciously, they agreed.

Jump to September 2021, several months down the line. A new Level 2 course is running, the restrictions are relaxed enough for me to go, and I no longer work a shift work position so I didn’t even have to book it off! The stars aligned!

And man, was it ever worth the wait. Samantha Wall is such a fabulous instructor and I was so lucky to have her teaching my course again. She is an instructor at NAIT and a candidate for the Master of Wine program. If you ever have a chance to get in a classroom with her, I HIGHLY recommend it.

I even made a few new wine friends! Everyone in the class was so cheerful, funny, and eager to learn. The atmosphere was EVERYTHING.

The Level 2 course spans three days. Our first two days ran the first Saturday and Sunday, there’s a full two weeks in between to study, and then the third day and exam ran the final Sunday.

It’s a good thing those two weeks of study time are there, too, because you cover a LOT more material in Level 2 than in Level 1. In addition to learning about a much wider variety of grapes, there’s also a much larger emphasis on knowing the different wine regions in which each of the grapes are grown, as well as how the differences in climate and terroir affect the final expression of the grape in the wine.

I spent my study time creating a massive excel spreadsheet that organized by country > region > subregion > climate+geography > grape > results. I would share it, but it’s a) massive, b) probably gibberish to anyone but me, and c) not done because my brain felt like a scrambled egg.

But it got the job done! I took a practice exam midway through the week and scored a 96, so I was pretty confident that I would be okay.

So instead of studying more, I spent my weekend in the middle doing YET ANOTHER course by Fine Vintage – their Sensory course, which teaches you techniques for improving your sense of smell and recognition of aromas in the glass (we’ll save that one for next week).

Finally, exam day came and I was BUZZING to get that exam done. The several glasses of sparkling wine, port and sherry we tasted right beforehand really helped though!

The exam is 50 questions long, all multiple choice, and there is no tasting component (that gets introduced at Level 3, which I hope to take next year). You have one hour to complete the exam, but if you are prepared, you can zip through it incredibly quickly. I was out in 20 minutes.

The questions aren’t designed to trick you. If you’ve taken the course, and you’ve put in a reasonable amount of time studying, you’ll have no problem. Their pass rate at Level 2 is incredibly high.

So if you’re unsure if you should take Level 1 or Level 2, I’m going to recommend that you go for Level 2. You’re not missing any material by skipping Level 1 since it’s all reviewed again anyway, and you are not required to take Level 1 in order to do Level 2. Challenge yourself! I believe in you!

I would still recommend Level 1 though if you are brand-spanking-new to wine, are just doing this as something fun on the weekend, or the cost for Level 2 is out of your current budget.

Overall, I can’t recommend WSET and Fine Vintage Ltd enough. The classes are informative, the instructors are both qualified and passionate, and to top it all off, they have been incredibly accommodating to their students throughout this pandemic.

I sincerely hope that you will consider them when deciding on the next steps to take in your wine journey.

Have you taken any wine courses? Tell me your favourites!