On-line Wine Sommelier Classes Reviewed- WSET or NWS?

ItaliAndrea
2 hours ago
2 min read

One would think that there would be one standard with regard to wine sommelier diplomas, at least that is what I thought. There are 3 main ones from which to choose each offering thier own certificate: Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS), Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) and National Wine School (NWS).

Selecting a path

I read countless reviews in order to decide which class to enroll in. I ruled out CMS, the most renowned in the restaurant industry, because the test included a service component. Although I'm pretty proficient at opening a bottle of wine among friends, opening a bottle of champagne for a table of 8 Master Sommeliers is quite another matter! Everything has to be flawless—the label facing the guests, the pours all equal—while simultaneously fielding questions about beer or spirits, which are neither my expertise nor my interest. In the end, I chose NWS and then WSET.

NWS

I started with NWS, because it was only focused on wine and did not include a service component. Level One was very basic. Level Two was heavily focused on the winemaking process and the flavor profiles of various greape varieties. It's self-paced and on-line with an online timed test at the end of the course. The test included a theory portion and a tasting component. I, personally, did not enjoy the teaching style of the instructor. He used very odd metaphors which had nothing to do with wine.

WSET

I skipped over Level One and went straight to Two. WSET doesn't teach the class themselves, but they recommend schools throughout the world. I chose Napa Valley Wine Academy based on reviews.

The content of WSET, learning about global wine regions and the grapes of each, was more on par with my expectations of a wine course. There was a weekly live class giving course attendees opportunity to interact with the on-line teacher and other students. We tasted 2 wines per class and compared tasting notes. The test consisted of 50 multiple choice questions and is offered on-line with a proctor (to prevent cheating).

Conclusion

One important thing to note- WSET and NWS teach different things very differently. For example, NWS teaches certain flavor characteristics as the varietal footprint whereas WSET teaches the same flavors as tertiary (flavors that develop over time during maturation). This means a correct answer on one test would be incorrect on the other! 🤷‍♀️

I recommend WSET over NWS because of the format and the content. I also think the degree is more widely recognized.

Now that I have successfully passed both level 2 exams (100% on WSET, "with distinction"), I may go on to pursuing WSET Level 3. It would require I fly somewhere to take the in-person-only test during my limited time in the USA. Level 3 seems much more intense than Level 2, which is a good thing. On the other hand, I really need to spend time studying and improving my Italian!