Gaining a Professional Qualification in Wine and Spirits
Posted by Colin on Wine Sediments.
At the start of 2007 I decided to enroll on the WSET Diploma program. For those not familiar with the WSET, it is The Wine and Spirit Education Trust and is the “leading global organisation providing a range of sought-after qualifications for both professionals and enthusiastic amateurs”. The Diploma is their flagship qualification.
Over the next 2 years I will have to study for over 600 hours (that equates to a full day per week) and taste several hundred wines and spirits. However the guidance is that you can never taste enough so I will have to take every opportunity I can find to taste.
As I am currently helping out at the International Wine Challenge I will have plenty chance to taste at the end of each day’s judging as thousands of wine have been submitted.
There are 6 modules and I’ve just completed the second, which is all about Wine Production. It is assessed by a multiple choice exam and I found some of the questions quite difficult. One of them was which vine rootstock would you use in a nematode and phylloxera infested soil - 143A, Schwarzmann, 420A or 41B? The answer is Schwarzmann but I only found this out after the exam!
The answer is buried deep inside the Oxford Companion To Wine
I’ve also just submitted a 2000 word essay on establishing a vineyard in Southern England. This has been a great opportunity to learn more about what it takes to set up and run a successful vineyard. I hate to shatter anyone’s dream, but most of the people I spoke to believed that there were few vineyards in the UK that made a profit. So if you are thinking of packing in the rat race to produce your own award winning wine, you had better make sure you have lots of money spare! I live in the South East where there are many successful vineyards. Through some contacts I have I spent a morning at Denbies vineyard in Sussex talking to the vineyard manager. Having studied all about vine training and pruning methods it was very helpful to see some real vines.
The benefit to me from taking the course so far is that it has increased my enjoyment of the wines I drink by increasing my knowledge of where they come from and how they are produced. My next module is all about fortified wines with the exam in June so I need to make plenty time for tasting sherry, port, madeira, vins doux naturels and a few others.
Studying is not all hard work!
Image courtesy of Spittoon.
