r/WSET

I’m registered for diploma without really doing much research.

I am a hobbyist, absolutely not in the wine business.

I did L2 which i got merit without really opening the textbook. Then got L3 also with distinction, I mostly just listened in class and did some braisncrape 3 days before the exam to complete stuff I didn’t tknow at all like grapes or regions I frankly never heard of. Both were in person lessons.

So I ended not feeling like a real “wine connoisseur “ and just no brain opted in Diploma. My bad, I did zero research and now may regret.

1 - Ineffective online setup: Turns out Online class aren’t really classes. The few zoom calls are in impossible hours for my region.

2 - Lonely and boring : There’s no student interaction online at all. Managed to create a chat group with half a dozen people in my city. But everyone has different Ds on the pipeline and frankly group tasting are meaningless without a WSET faculty IMO

3 - unreasonable homework expectations: online homework is ludicrous , expectations on all the wine to procure and taste is frankly stupid in terms of logistics and cost unless you’re a sommelier ofc

4 - Unclear schedule : Lessons just breeze by, in fact I didn’t even know D2 started until the last email was sent

5 - No respect for our time: you get 4 mails by week with shitload of text and fluff which is obviously AI generated.

6 - lots lots lots of hidden costs: I naively thought the registration was costly but buy one cry once. Turns out you need to pay $$$ each time you take an exam. Some of them you can’t even split. For example, I passed D4 tasting but failed D4 theory so I need to do the whole thing over again and pay full price. It is quite frustrating.

In the end I only tried the D4 exam and now I have very low motivation to just swipe the card again and again to continue.

My main beef really is the online class which is just a big joke.

My options are

A: cut my losses and leave it there

B: try to find a way to motivate myself to get back in (maybe register the wine with jimmy thing or something)?

C: wait if maybe one day they start providing in person lessons in my city and do it then (they started with D4 only, it was over a weekend and it was pretty good)

Keen to hear any constructive advice from people who tried L4!

Hey all,

I am looking into doing WSET 3 sometime in 2027, either Q3 or Q4 when my pollen allergies have passed. I am based in Germany, but my local provider does not allow signing up for the course without WSET 2. The WSET London Entry Test is also not accepted as a proof that I cover the requirements, even though I passed it with 49/50.

Absolutely valid from the provider, they have their requirements and they're keeping to them. However I feel that for my case, WSET 2 is a a bit too high of a price for what it provides knowledge-wise. I have a M.Sc. in Molecular Biotechnology, so that the technical aspects of wine production do not particularly phase me as I have held exams on them already, I can understand the connections between steps, the reasons behind them and how all of that transfers to what we taste in the glass. For WSET 3 that would be helpful as I can focus on the appellations and actually putting the crazy amount of detail in context.

Ideally, I'd want to do a classroom course - for the tasting, for the company...So, can you all share your experiences with where you did your WSET 3 in Europe, were you happy with the quality of the wines you got to taste, the quality of teaching, anything else you can think of. I am more than fine with travelling if that means I'll have an enjoyable and productive experience.

Thank you and cheers!

P.S Currently looking into Grape Skills in Heidelberg.