WSET Level 1 – What to Expect & Exam Update

When I jumped into WSET Level 1, I didn’t know too much about it, but did know that it was either WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) or CMS (Court of Master Sommelier) that I was going to start my schooling through. Because I met someone who had finished WSET level 3, and was so envious of her wine knowledge, I jumped into this program through the Commonwealth Wine School in Boston, MA (remotely).

On July 3rd, I took my WSET level 1 exam and felt really great about it! It’s a 30 question, multiple choice exam, and they give you 45 minutes to complete it. In order to take the exam from home, you have to have a completely clean space and have your laptop recording you, but also need to have your phone set up across the room recording you as well to make sure you are not cheating. You are not allowed any notes, books, etc. during the exam, and additionally, you are also not allowed to take any notes during the exam. So for every mnemonic device I came up with, I had to have it completely memorized and understood without being able to write it down when it came time to take the exam.

Overall, there were only three questions on the exam that I wasn’t 100% sure of, so I’m feeling very confident that I passed. Because of all the video footage that has to be reviewed by the company in England, I will not know for about 2-3 months if I actually passed or not.

So, what did this course cover? For the most part, this course covered the high-level basics of wine which included distinguishing the four principal grape varieties, how to describe them, the production of red, white, and rose wine, storage and service of wine, and basic wine and food pairing.

Regardless of my level 1 exam, I am going to be starting level 2 this week through the Napa Valley Wine Academy. I really enjoyed taking level 1 via the Commonwealth Wine School in Boston, but the Napa Valley Wine Academy had better dates for my schedule, so that’s the only reason why I switched. This course runs from July 13th through August 17th, and then it’s onto level 3 right after that.

From the textbook and workbook that I have already received, I can tell this level will be a lot more in depth than level 1, which I am really looking forward to. To anyone who is looking to get started with WSET, I suggest taking level 1 before jumping into level 2 (though it’s technically not a prerequisite). Before starting my wine journey, I had a fairly basic level of wine knowledge, but I still learned a ton taking level 1, so my suggestion would be not to skip it.

WSET Level 2 starts on July 13th (today!), and I will keep you updated from there. As always, thanks for reading along!