Year: 2021

WSET Level 3 Review – A Comprehensive 10 Week Wine Course

WSET is an international wine school that offers four tiers of classes (aptly named Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4- also known as Diploma). These courses help those interested in wine as well as industry workers receive a structured look at all things wine.

After completing my WSET Level 2 in late 2020, I immediately moved on to the 10-week Level 3 course with Capital Wine School in Washington DC and completed the course in early 2021. In this one, I wanted to share more about what you can expect if you move on to Level 3!

But before we get into it, we first have to make the upfront caveat that if you are new to the WSET courses, we highly recommend that virtually all potential students start at a lower level. If you have no experience with wine, you should start in Level 1, and if you have a bit of knowledge, WSET Level 2 is a good starting point. Only those who have comparable certifications to Level 2 via outside programs should consider starting in Level 3- it would be far too intense to start here otherwise.

Apart from simply being robust, Level 3 builds off everything you learn in the lower courses. As such, if you know nothing about WSET programs, we highly recommend you start with our WSET courses article which breaks down the respective levels and then read our detailed WSET Level 2 review prior to this one to get a firm understanding of what is best for you.

Much like in the course, this review assumes you know some basics about what WSET is all about.

Note: I took the WSET Level 3 exam in April 2021. Test material and structure can and does change over time. I passed theory with distinction and tasting with merit.

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How to Use a Coravin – A Step by Step Guide

As far as wine preservation systems are concerned, you have a number of options out there in order to make your bottle last longer.

One such option is a Coravin. This gas blanket system is often considered to be the gold standard for gas blanket systems and is used by professional bartenders and home consumers alike.

In this guide, we wanted to take you through a step-by-step process of how to use a Coravin!

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Domaine de l’Envo Bulles de Muscat 2019 Review – Delightful Pet Nat

Sometimes we open pet nat (pétillant naturel) wines with a bit of hesitation. As these bottles are unfiltered and finish their fermentation in the bottle, we often don't know what we're going to get. Lots of lees flavor? Maybe. Bubbles? Most likely. Funkiness? It happens especially if they are naturally fermented too.

As it turns out, Domaine de l'Envo's Bulles de Muscat from Alsace, France, hit just the right notes for all the categories. Strong flavors that were nuanced by the pet nat production style.

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Chateau Musar 2010 Review – Red Fruits, Black Fruits, and Age

If you've read any other wine reviews on our site, you would know we have a soft spot for Chateau Musar from Lebanon. We first had an aged Musar at Wine Bar George in Disney Springs, and have been buying bottles wherever we can find them ever since.

The Chateau Musar 2010 is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, and Cinsaut which hits all the things we love about this bottle. Despite enjoying this one in 2021, we think this one could age even more!

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Pulenta Malbec I 2016 Review – Intense Dark Fruit Flavors

We've had a love affair with Pulenta Estates ever since visiting the winery for Angie's birthday in 2014.

In fact, their entry-level Malbec (La Flor), is what we consider to be our house wine. It is an easy drinker that we love (in part thanks to the memories) and is the kind of bottle we pull out when we have guests over and we don't know their tastes at all.

But this winery has far more than its entry level Malbec that we enjoy. In fact, their higher-end, Malbec I, is even more delicious but comes at an increased price to match. In this one, we wanted to share our tasting notes for the Malbec I.

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How to Prepare for the WSET Level 3 Essay Exam

Out of the three sections of the WSET Level 3 exam, it is the essay portion that terrified me the most.

Why? Well, a few reasons.

First, WSET multiple-choice exams only have four possible answers, and you can likely deduce the right answer in many cases. Even without that, I'll take a 25% chance of being right over 0% any day.

Second, the WSET Level 3 tasting exam follows the Systematic Approach to Tasting lexicon. Again, simply using the right words and being in the ballpark will get you pretty far in this one (we discuss more about why in the previous article).

But for the essay, you're on your own. And with just “four” questions at 25 points each, well, things can go south in a hurry. Don't worry, though, as we've got some tips to help you prepare!

Note: I took the WSET Level 3 exam in April 2021. Test material and structure can and does change over time. I passed the theory portion with distinction.

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Strekov Fred #2 Review – A Juice Bomb of a Wine

Strekov's Fred wine blends from Slovakia consist of Alibernet and Dunaj grapes. But what is interesting in this one is that the series consists of several bottles in numeric sequence (e.g. Fred #2, Fred #3, etc.) where, as far as we can tell at least, the only discernable difference is the blend percentage of the two grapes (what they are, well, we can't tell).

From there, the wines are produced with minimal intervention at all and the result is an incredibly juicy, fruit-forward wine.

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