What you need to know, to prepare for the WSET 3 and ace your exam!
Let's face it, the WSET Level 3 is a challenging exam and needs appropriate preparation. Here below you will find the most important tips and tricks to ace your WSET 3 examination.
1. Make a realistic study plan.
A realistic time plan will be your first step towards acing your exam. Most students underestimate the time it takes to prepare for the WSET Level 3, and they find themselves rushing through the theory part as the exam gets closer. Cramming almost never works! There are just too many details to know, and your brain won’t memorize them all in a short time.
The appropriate time required to memorize the whole theory depends strongly on your prior knowledge.
If, for example, you have been working in a well-stocked wine shop for years, or you have been passionate about wine for a long time, you might already be familiar with many regions and grape varieties and will need less time to memorize them. 2 months might be enough to prepare your WSET Level 3.
If, on the contrary, you are quite new to the wine world, it can be extremely challenging to memorize all those many names you never heard before. You might need to review each chapter a few times to memorize all the details. 5 months might be a more realistic and stress-free timeframe for you.
At ViniRama, we prepared 4 ideal study plans for 2, 3, 4 and 5 months. All the plans are organized by week and contain what we believe are the best To Dos to prepare for your exam.
It will be easy to track your progression and keep your motivation high!
Download your FREE WSET Level 3 Award in Wines Study plan here.
2. Stop making summaries, draw maps instead.
I love making summaries. It gives me the feeling I am really mastering a subject. Many students feel the same, and for their WSET 3, the first thing they do is to make a summary of the book. There are faster and better ways to prepare for your exam! Making a summary of the book would be a huge waste of time. Why? Mainly because of the two following reasons:
The WSET 3 textbook is already a summary. Many books are thick and long. They can be often summarized to an 8th of their original size without losing important information. For the WSET 3 textbook, this is not the case. It is extremely dense, and you need to know almost every word in it. So, it makes no sense to make a further summary of it. What makes sense though, is to rework the information in another, more digestible format! The best way to do that is by using visual tools such as maps, tables and lists which will help you memorize much better than plain text.
It’s about places you need to “SEE”. A big chunk of the WSET 3 course is about the wines of the world. It is about countries, regions, and sub-regions. In this section, you need to understand and memorize what factors - such as mountains, latitude, oceans, winds etc - influence the regional climate and what consequences they have on grape growing. The most efficient way to memorize these is by drawing maps! If you do that you will be able to call up a mental picture of that map with your notes on it during the exam. Ideally, you end up having one summary sheet per region. This should contain a map, all the climatic influences, topographic relevant elements, main grape varieties, special production methods if any (i.e. Amarone or Tokaji Aszú), eventual specificities in the wine law and any other special notes.
Make sure you include the regional references contained in the winemaking chapters: In chapters 7 to 9, there are many references to regions which are not repeated in the regional chapters. You are required to know them and integrate them into your regional knowledge, so make sure you note them on your regional sheet.
Drawing maps is also an excellent revision exercise. So, when the exam approaches, just take a blank paper and scribble a region’s map with the location names, the main influencing factors, the grape varieties grown, the common winemaking practices etc. It is soo helpful! You won’t regret the effort! And you should know that in the exam, you might get a map question where you have a blank map of a wine region, and you have to name it.
3. Use flashcards.
As we already said, there is a lot to memorize. The only way to make all the information stick in your brain is to quiz yourself. EVERY DAY! Ideally during one hour per day. (Check out our flashcards)
Our brains convert short-term memories into long-term knowledge as we frequently revisit information. Therefore, you need to review the things you learn constantly and many times, otherwise you will forget them faster than you think. The easiest way to do that is through flashcards. You can create a paper version yourself as you go through the book and revise them every day. It is for sure very useful but also very time-consuming. A faster alternative is to purchase digital flashcards for your mobile phone. They will allow you to revise anytime and anywhere: as you’re waiting at the doctor’s or, on public transport, on the way to work, while you’re waiting in line, on your sofa or in bed. Whether you just have 2 minutes or half an hour, it is worth opening the app and flip a few flashcards.
There are many schools and educators worldwide that offer valid sets of flashcards.
At ViniRama we created what we believe are the best flashcards for the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines examination. Our flashcards are:
Accurate: 100% in line with the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines textbook.
Comprehensive: 2800 flashcards cover just everything you need to know for your examination.
Easy to use: via the mobile phone app or your computer. Make the most of your time, learn anywhere, anytime! Your statistics and study progress are constantly synchronized.
Personalized: The repetition frequency is based on your personal confidence with the studied subjects. It efficiently addresses and reduces your weaknesses.
Focused: In alignment with the latest specification document published in 2022, everything you don't need to know for the examination has been removed.
Made with love: our flashcards have been created over a long period of time. Reviewed with care and attention to detail by passionate and experienced wine educators. Always having our students and their examination in mind.
Purchase ViniRama Flashcards for the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines at 49.90 EUR here and start learning right away.
4. Study by comparison, make lists and charts.
In the WSET 3 examination, you will be very likely asked to compare things. Regions, wines, grape growing options, winemaking methods etc. So, it is important to learn by comparing from the start.
What are the differences between Port and Sherry?
How are Barolo and Barbaresco different?
What is the difference between Champagne, Cava, and Prosecco?
How are an Alsatian and a Mosel Riesling different?
What could be a good alternative, similar in style and quality, to a Chardonnay from Cote de Baune?
What other wine is likely to be appreciated by someone that enjoys Rutherglen Muscats?
These are the questions you should ask yourself when preparing for your WSET Level 3 Award in Wines examination. Whenever you can, think about how two things are different or similar. When you read new information, ask yourself how is that similar to something else you read before. Keep track of your learnings by making lists and charts that help you compare and memorize them.
Charts also help you gather and memorize information that is dispersed in different sections of the book. For example, you will find in the book numerous references to temperatures. Related to the service of sweet, sparkling, still red and whites, to fermentation in general, fermentation of red and whites, to climates, to tartaric stability, to the vine lifecycle etc. It is easy to get confused about all those temperature indications. Make one revision chart with all temperatures. It will be faster to go back to the table for reference once you don’t remember one.
There are many more charts and lists you can and should create for your WSET 3 studies.
Here below, you can find examples of lists that you could create, but, please, don’t stop there, create all the lists and charts you can think of that help you understand and memorize:
Vineyard factors and their implications (slopes, large bodies of water -> implications on the vine)
Main grape varieties and their characteristics
Winemaking options for premium/high volume, aromatic/non-aromatic, white/red
Winemaking options for sweet wines
Production methods for sparkling/fortified
Temperatures
GIs and wine law of all countries
Etc.
5. Master the topics before going to class.
Make sure you study the topics extensively before you meet your instructor. Ideally, before you go to class you should have done the following things:
Read the relevant chapters in the WSET 3 Textbook
Go through the corresponding flashcards until you master them
Test yourself through mock multiple-choice questions on the relevant chapters
Train at least a few short-written answers on the topics
Note all your questions
Only after all that you should go to class. You will make the most out of the with your educator.
6. Practice Short Written Answer Questions.
The short-written answer questions are the most difficult part of the exam. Here is where most of the students fail. Therefore, you should put focus on training them extensively from the start. Chances are high, that if you go to the exam without having trained them before you will fail this part of the paper. So if we have one piece of advice to give, it is Practice, Practice, Practice!
The short-written answers questions require a kind of technique. It is not difficult, but you should practice it and, with time, it will become automatic, like second nature. Make sure that during your preparation you answer at least 2 SWA Questions per chapter and, if possible, let your instructor give you feedback on your answer.
Read our article on How to answer the WSET Level 3 Short Written Answer Questions. It will give you the most important clues on how to ace this part of the examination.
7. Set the right priorities.
Everything in the book can be part of the exam and needs to be studied. But some parts are more important than others as they allow you to earn “easy marks”. You must know that two topics will be examined for sure in each exam. Knowing this in advance allows you to prepare them with extra care so that you can score 100% of the allocated marks.
In the SWAQ section of your WSET 3 examination there will ALWAYS be a full question or part of a question on:
Making wine recommendations, Service & Storage (Worth 10 Marks) This part corresponds to chapter 3 of the WSET 3 textbook, 4 pages in total. This means you need to learn 2% of the book pages page to get 10% of the marks
Sparkling AND fortified wines (Worth 20 Marks) This part corresponds to chapters 41 to 45 of the WSET 3 textbook. 23 pages in total. This means you need to learn 12% of the book pages to get 20% of the marks.
Make sure you master these topics, and you can earn more than half the marks needed to pass the short-written answers paper!
Also, you must know that, to answer any SWA Question on any region you will be asked to integrate Learning Outcome 1, meaning Chapters 4 to 9. Without gaining a deep understanding of these topics, it will be almost impossible to pass the SWA Question section.
8. Stick to the WSET 3 book!
Additional knowledge doesn't earn any marks. The WSET 3 textbook is your best friend. It is the basis for all the answers. You might have additional knowledge from other books, or from your work experience. Please consider that anything which is not in the book such as knowledge of additional regional wines, or naming single producers is not giving you any marks. You should refer to the textbook for any answer you give during the exam. And as we already said before, the best way to memorize the textbook is by using flashcards and creating regional revision sheets with maps.
9. Learn the SAT and the Wine Lexicon by heart.
During the tasting examination, as well as during the theory examination, you are asked to describe wines. It is important that, when you do that, you use the SAT terminology only, as only this one will gain marks. You might be an experienced wine connoisseur and used to describe wines differently than with the SAT. There are many ways to describe wines, and they all are good. But for the exam, only the SAT will be relevant.
In order not to lose time trying to remember the SAT structure, its order, and detailed descriptors, we recommend you learn both the SAT and the Wine Lexicon by heart. If you try to memorize them already before your first tasting session, you will see that it will already make your first wine description much easier and faster. And with time, after you tasted the recommended 56 to 90 wines, the SAT will become something automatic for you.
In the theory part you might also be asked to write “dry” tasting notes based for example on a wine label, or to name secondary aromas from autolysis, or tertiary aromas of bottle age for white wines. You will gain time in your examination if you know immediately what you need to write down.
10. Organize your tastings.
If you are attending the WSET 3 course online, chances are that the tasting samples are not included in your class and that you must source your samples separately.
On the WSET 3 Specification Document you can find the list of recommended tasting samples. The list contains nearly 100 tasting samples, consisting of both “essential” and “optional” wines that need to be tasted to prepare for the exam. It requires a little bit of time to chose among the options it gives you and split the wines in meaningful tasting sessions.
It makes sense to organize at least 12 tasting sessions so that you don’t taste too many wines at the same time but still have an interesting number of bottles to compare in one session. We believe that the ideal number of samples per session is between 5 and 7. Organize your tasting sessions so that you can compare samples meaningfully: It makes for example sense to taste all Rieslings in the same session or to put in the same tasting session a Northern Rhone Syrah, an Australian and a South African Shiraz.
After you tasted the samples, and wrote your tasting notes, go back to the textbook, or to your revision sheets and read the corresponding text. Note specifically what are differences and similarities in climates, latitude, altitudes, soils, winds, aspects, winemaking techniques etc., and how these can influence the style of the wines. This will be very helpful for your theory examination. A short-written answer question could be, for example, “how are a Cahors and an Argentinian Malbec different and why?”. If you taste the wines as we just described, it will be very easy for you to answer this type of questions.
At ViniRama we created a free Tasting Sessions Plan for the WSET 3 examination based on the specification document. No worries, there is nothing more and nothing less than in the official specification document. It is just presented in a way that you can easily purchase your samples and organize your tastings.
We already made a choice there where the specification gives you the possibility to choose among different wine regions. We chose the regions in a way that we believe exposes you to greatest number of different wine styles.
We organized all the wines in the list in 13 meaningful tasting sessions. If you are motivated, we encourage to have even more tasting sessions than that. The more you taste, the better your tasting skills will become. If you need advice on how to organize additional tasting sessions, please get in touch with us, we will be happy to help.
Download your FREE Tasting Sessions Plan for the WSET 3 here.
We wish you plenty of success and fun in your studies!
If you have any questions or comments please contact us anytime.
Cheers
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