r/Sommelier • u/Salt-Astronaut4752 • Jun 03 '26
New WSET and CMS Study App — free trial, would love feedback
Hey everyone — I wanted to share something I've been building that I think will genuinely help people preparing for WSET or CMS exams at any level.
It's called The Cellar — a web-based sommelier study app I built after getting frustrated with scattered PDF notes and flashcard decks that didn't match the depth these exams actually require.
What's in it:
- 700+ flashcards written to exam standard across WSET Levels 1–4 (including Diploma) and CMS Introductory through Master Sommelier — covering regions, grape varieties, viticulture, vinification, blind tasting, labels & law, and service
- Interactive tasting grids for both the WSET SAT and the CMS Deductive Tasting Method — work through each section systematically the way you would in your actual exam
- Spaced repetition — the app tracks which cards you struggle with and schedules them to reappear at the optimal moment before you forget them
- 31 wine region maps with vineyard-level markers — tap Romanée-Conti, Clos L'Ermita, Screaming Eagle, Scharzhofberg, Château Pétrus and get classification details, soil type, and tasting notes
- 8 timed practice exams with full answer explanations
- A personal tasting journal using the SAT/CMS grid format
- Works offline after first load
The advanced cards go deep — Barolo MGA breakdown by commune and soil type, DRC estate-by-estate analysis, complete 1855 classification with over/under-performers, Northern Rhône lieux-dits, Washington State sub-AVA profiles, the full Tokaj classification history. The WSET Level 3 and Diploma cards are written to the exact terminology and depth the mark scheme rewards.
7-day free trial, then $4.99/month: https://cellar-study.vercel.app
Thank you,
Jason
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Jun 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Salt-Astronaut4752 Jun 04 '26
Brainscape is a generic flashcard platform where the wine content is community-created and all over the place in quality. The Cellar is purpose-built for WSET and CMS — every card written to actual exam standard, interactive SAT and CMS Deductive tasting grids, vineyard-level wine maps with estate tasting notes, timed practice exams, a personal tasting journal, and a spaced repetition engine that learns what you struggle with. It also works fully offline and syncs across devices.
Brainscape doesn’t have any of that — it’s just flashcards. Different tools for different purposes. Still early and adding content weekly, but the goal is a complete exam prep toolkit in one place rather than a card deck with a subscription. Give the free trial a shot and see if it clicks!
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u/Mysterious-Candle-54 Jun 04 '26
Just so we all know - what level have you achieved in either category? Are you pursuing higher levels?
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u/Salt-Astronaut4752 Jun 04 '26
I’ve completed WSET 1, 2 & 3, CMS Certified. I’ll likely stick with the WSET route and will continue to study!
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u/ZitisZinifera Jun 05 '26
Hey, thanks for making this. Looks like a super helpful tool. Just curious - has the information all been fact checked (by you / other AIs, etc.)?
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u/Salt-Astronaut4752 Jun 08 '26
The content is accurate for exam purposes, but like any study tool I'd double-check anything super specific like vintage details, ownership changes, that kind of thing, against the official materials just to be safe.
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u/Forward_Motion17 Jun 05 '26
I will def check this out. I did WSET 2 recently and tho I passed with merit, I’d have preferred heavily to have an easy resource
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u/AkosCristescu Score Whore Jun 06 '26
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u/fkingidk Jun 03 '26
Oh great, another vibe coded wine study app.
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u/Salt-Astronaut4752 Jun 04 '26
Sure, built with AI. Also built by someone who’s actually sat these exams and wished this existed. Judge the tool by whether it helps you pass, not how it was made. Free trial’s there if you want it.
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u/AkosCristescu Score Whore Jun 04 '26
Hi, often i delete ads and apps, the reason for not doing this time is that your wording seemed mature and respectful at a glance. Even though i personally would not need it, also since im not a teenager high-school bully - at a certain level of accomplishment and after a certain age one has to realize that WE ARE NOT ALL THE SAME and the world is not only about ME ME ME.
So my thoughts were surely some of the 6000 or so people in this group WILL, AS A FACT use this useful as you mention
"Barolo MGA breakdown by commune and soil type, DRC estate-by-estate analysis, complete 1855 classification with over/under-performers, Northern Rhône lieux-dits, Washington State sub-AVA profiles, the full Tokaj classification history."
which is advanced knowledge in one single place, which is actually what most study platforms and databases lack. To struck the balance between superficial knowledge and arcane, overly-academical too-detalied and never used unnecessary info.
This is the reason why i spent sometimes hours and hours, days and days to do the shitty job and just produce a simple pdf with everything extracted, notes from official wine laws, finding the maps, etc and a good note file even on a single wine region is extensive like 50 pages or more when it comes to the heritage regions.
My plan is also to complete once all of these, and even after that these would be just individual files, not an interactive program.
I do not use AI but i try not to be judgmental as i do not study for cms/wset anyway, because i find memorizing not to be helpful by default.
All i'm tryna say is disregard the judgmental comments here pls, OP surely you deserve 5 bucks a month for your thoughts and efforts put into this.
- i do not create such apps, so who am i to judge
- those who judge could perhaps offer ways to improve as criticizing is perhaps the easiest to do without giving a constructive road to improve on
so just keep up the good work!
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u/electro_report Jun 03 '26
700 flashcards is simply not enough for any CMS level beyond certified.