The WSET's SAT : To break the rules, you must first master them
The Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s (WSET) Systematic Approach to Tasting (SAT) can be daunting at first, but honestly, it’s there to help!
We experience many sensations when tasting wine, and it can be challenging to put them all in order. Our sense of smell, taste and touch are stimulated when wine tasting and the skills to recognise, organise and characterise them quickly and accurately need to be learned and developed.
FRAMEWORK
This is what the SAT can help you do. It provides a framework for analysing a wine, allowing you to focus on the critical characteristics of the wine in your glass without getting distracted. It will help you:
determine the style of a wine, for example, whether it’s dry, aromatic, fruity, oaked, unoaked, light-bodied or full-bodied.
build a portfolio of tasting notes helping you work your way around and understand the world’s wine styles.
identify whether your wine is “fit for purpose”. For example, is it suitable for serving by the glass in a bar without food, or would it be better to serve it with roast beef for Sunday lunch?
write an accurate, authoritative and professional tasting note, either for use on a restaurant wine list or for your own personal records, to clearly describe the wine to customers or friends.
make an objective and unbiased judgement on the quality of the wine, is it an entry-level wine, a premium level wine, or a fine wine.
decide whether you like the wine or not.
to pass the WSET L3 Award in Wines examination and achieve that highly sought after qualification!
SUPPORT
Whatever WSET course you are taking, I will help you use the SAT in the best way possible, guiding you through the tasting process. You will systematically develop your tasting skills until you can automatically taste a wine and give a detailed analysis of its style and quality. I have videos dedicated to showing you how to taste and will provide you with detailed feedback on all the tasting notes you submit. You will compile a portfolio of tasting notes (at least 8 for L1, 16 for L2 and 50 for L3) for a range of wines, achieving an excellent understanding of the different styles of wine made worldwide.
The WSET’s collection of Systematic Approach to Tastings is available here:
Tasting skills are not examined at L1 or L2. The WSET L3 Award in Wines examination consists of a two wine blind tasting where students are asked to evaluate a white and red wine or a sweet white and red wine.
ONE-TO-ONE
I work with students personally and include a one-to-one practical tutorial session by video, samples and mock papers to help you prepare for the L3 examination. I offer a free 15-minute consultation for students considering the L3 Award in Wines which might help you understand more about the practical examination. If you’d like to book a consultation, please contact me.
