WSET Education: Worth it or Not?
WSET Education: Worth it or Not?
A discussion I had a few days ago with a close friend and wine lover is the motive for this article. He was disappointed with the level 1 class in WSET, and he decided not to go after level 2. He claimed, "I prefer to spend this amount of money on buying some good wines, I will learn more, and I will enjoy it more". This approach was the second that I had in the last months. The primary excuse for both colleagues was that the experience at level 1 was too low for their expectations. Both have been passionate wine lovers for many years, with a severe wine approach and spending hours searching, reading and tasting.
Generally speaking, I agree with the critic for level 1, especially if you have a minimum of experience in the wine field. But we should think that the education system is not only for those who are familiar with wine. So it is good firstly to consider people who are unaware of wine issues at all. So, at least, level 1 has the right amount of information and the right approach to be manageable and friendly for those people.
Now, let us look closer at what the WSET education is and what qualifications it offers. The main aspects are an overview of vilification techniques (after level 2), countries, regions, terroirs, terms, varieties, wine styles, label reading, and a systematic approach to tasting. Also, the worldwide acceptance certification is worth mentioning. Another similar education centre is the Court of Master Sommeliers. I do not have experience with CMS, so I cannot say a lot, but as I know, apart from the general wine education, they also focus on wine service and sales. Rumours said that the CMS exams are more demanding than the WSET. However, I can share my experience with WSET and how it triggered me and affected my career since I achieved level 3.
I already had some experience before I engaged professionally in the wine industry. I used to spend my free time reading articles about wine, areas, terroirs, trying different wine styles and all those things that many passionate wine lovers do. But on a professional level, I quickly realized that I was far from the minimum. So, for me and what I was searching for, it was the only way and evaluating now, worth every single euro, time and effort I spent. I built confidence, consolidated my knowledge, learned all the wine terms, studied the most famous wine regions and varieties in the world, and became familiar with the systematic approach to tasting, which is the best method to approach every wine since it helps you put out your personal flavour, and try to be objective whether you like the liquid into your glass or not. And, of course, thanks to Grigoris Michailos and Mr Lazarakis MW, which effectively transmitted their passion and inspired me to do my best and continuously improve myself.
Conclusion: if you want to achieve a general education around wine with worldwide recognition, WSET is one way. On the other hand, if you focus on a hospitality career, WSET will undoubtedly help you, but you better look to CMS since it better suits this industry. And what if you want to upgrade your wine knowledge, not for professional use but to understand better what you drink, the wine terms etc.? Hm, here is the real challenge!
In my opinion, if you have the budget and you can spend it on this purpose, go after L2 WSET. You will become familiar with almost every wine term, have accurate enough tasting experience to move forward alone, and get the basic knowledge of most of the world's most famous varieties and wine regions. The last will help you to extend your wine perception.
Now, if all the above is not what you are looking for and you do not want to spend time and effort reading about varieties and regions, strangled with strange names, and your budget is limited, but you still wish to learn more, then you should check for wine seminars in your area. Usually, done by wine experts in not crowded classes, organized or supported by a local wine company, and the cost is much lower. You will be tasting wines mainly from local producers, learning some wine terms, and perhaps you will taste some wines from other countries too. Also, you will find people who share the same passion. In the end, you will learn enough to develop your knowledge alone and save enough money to buy some wines for this purpose. 😉