Are you wondering how to study for WSET Level 2 in wine? Whether you are stepping up from level 1, or have skipped straight to level 2, the amount of learning required can be daunting. In this article we’ll take you through a range of information that will help you to prepare for your WSET level 2 exam. This will include helping you to:
- Decide how much personal study time you need
- Calculate how much time to spend in each topic area
- Identify the key information to focus on
- Find practice exams – perfect as a learning tool and to ensure that you are fully prepared for your exam
Studying For WSET Level 2
Recommended hours
The recommended classroom time for the WSET Level 2 in wine qualification 17 hours. This includes 1 hour for the examination. Normally the non-examination classroom time will be broken down into 2 x 8 hour days, but some providers may space it out over 3 days (or even up to 8 evenings). In addition to the classroom time, there is a recommended 11 hours of private study. For many people this extra time is important for a number of reasons:
- Ability to read and work at their own pace
- Chance to focus on weaker knowledge areas
- Some candidates take in more information when they are away from the classroom environment and able to concentrate by themselves
It is therefore important that you study in your own time, and use this extra learning time wisely.
How To Spend Your Learning Time
If you are able to study outside of the classroom, you should normally split your time in line with the question weightings:
- 10% Learning outcome 1 – Environmental influences on grape growing
- 8% Learning outcome 2 – Winemaking and bottle ageing
- 38% Learning outcome 3 – Factors influencing style and quality of principle grape varieties
- 24% Learning outcome 4 – Regionally important varieties – key wine regions
- 12% Learning outcome 5 – Sparkling and fortified wines
- 8% Learning outcome 6 – Storage and service of wine
So if you have the 11 hours available for personal study time you should spend:
- 66 minutes on environmental influences on grape growing
- 53 minutes on winemaking and bottle ageing
- 4 hours and 11 minutes on factors influencing style and quality of principle grape varieties
- 2 hours and 39 minutes on regionally important varieties – key wine regions
- 79 minutes on sparkling and fortified wines
- 53 minutes on the service and storage of wine
Of course measuring you time by the minute is serious overkill, but the above should provide you with a good guideline with which to organise your study.
Bear in mind that if you are particularly strong or weak in one area you may wish to adjust these timings. For example, candidates with service experience may wish to spend less time on learning outcome 6 and instead focus on the other five areas.
Key areas of focus
When deciding how to study for WSET level 2 it is important to focus on the most important areas. The below gives you a high level guide as to the knowledge you should have in order to pass your level 2 exam.
Environmental influences on grape growing
This section doesn’t have a high level of detail. Only 5 questions will come from this learning outcome, but yet it covers everything from grape components to environment influences to labeling terms. If you are short on time don’t get bogged down in the detail – learn the basis components and more on to the other sections.
Winemaking and bottle ageing
In this section it is important to keep the grape color in the back of your mind. A lot of the content focuses on the difference between winemaking depending on the color of the wine being produced. If you can grasp how each stage of the process is likely to differ between red and white wine then you should do well.
Factors influencing style and quality of principle grape varieties
This is a major learning outcome and will be tested in 19 of the 50 questions. There is some overlap with the next section (regionally important varieties) – which has another 12 questions. There is quite a bit more detail compared to level 1. It is worth spending a significant amount of time in this section. Concentrate on learning the basics of the 8 principal grape varieties. Knowing the likely level of tannin, acidity and key flavors of these varieties will stand you in great stead – both in this section and when studying the key wine regions.
Regionally important varieties – key wine regions
This section builds on the previous. To succeed in this section you’ll need to have an idea as to which grape varieties are famous in particular regions. Importantly, you’ll also need to have an idea as to the style of the wine produced. E.g. are Barolo wines:
- Red, made from Nebbiolo and high in acid, or
- White, made from Viognier and low in acid?
If you’ve got a good grasp of these two sections then you’re almost home and dry.
Sparkling and fortified wines
For sparkling wines, focus on matching the wine to the country and method of production (traditional vs tank). For Sherry focus on identifying the characteristics of each style. And finally, for Port, you’ll want to know the differences between the classifications, including required years to age.
Storage and service of wine
For the final section of the WSET Level 2, you should focus on:
- The ideal conditions for storing wine.
- Common wine faults and how to identify them
- How to open still and sparkling wine
- An introduction to food and wine pairing and what to look out for.
The final consideration in how to study for WSET level 2 is the service and storage section. The key components to this section are:
- An understanding of how to store (and how not to store) wine
- Service temperatures depending on the type of wine
- Common wine faults
- How to open still and sparkling wine
- Pairing wine with food – what food flavors are usually good for pairing with wines, and what food components are high risk
WSET Level 2 in Wine – Learning Aids
Please contact us if you are interested in receiving flashcards and revision aids for your WSET Level 2 exam.
WSET Level 2 – Practice Exams
Practice exams can be a great way to ensure that you are ready for the exam. They help by:
- Highlighting any areas of weakness or gaps in your knowledge
- Giving you practice under exam conditions, including the timing that you will face on exam day
- Getting you familiar with the process and building your confidence. This will make you much less likely to panic on exam day!
Fortunately we spent a lot of time putting together level 2 practice exams. These exams have the same format as the real exam – 60 minutes to complete 50 multiple choice questions. You’ll also receive feedback on which questions you got right and wrong. You can access them here.