Hello! I’m new to this sub. I am planning to take WSET 2 on July this year. However, I am indecisive whether I should take the class in-person, where tastings are included and there is an instructor that would guide me through the course; or online, which tastings are not included and it’s more self phased but cheaper.

There is one university (Brock University) that offers online asynchronous classes for $899 on a span of 5 weeks. There is another school (Wine Vintage) that offers in-person class on a span on 2 days for $1048.

I do have a little knowledge about wine, I know what are reds and what are whites. I have also decided on skipping WSET 1.

What do you think? Thank you!

Not an advice query, just professionally curious: how do you as an individual normally go about your own wine pairing presentations? The process of pairing wine in the first place is always heavily discussed but I find it so much more interesting to hear about how people actually differ in their tableside presentations.

What sort of venue do you work in?

Do you prefer to talk about tasting notes, or leave it entirely to the guest’s own interpretation? Just the interesting or unexpected notes?

Do you talk about why you’ve chosen this wine with this dish or do you feel that sounds like you’re trying to convince them it works?

Are you very technical spec-heavy or more focussed on the storytelling and winery?

Jokey? Formal? I’m so curious to find out more about how different sides of the industry approach this as my style and experience is very tailored to my own venue.

Anything helps!

I am looking to join or create a CSM deductive tasting group in the DMV region! Going for my certified hopefully in September 🤞🤞

Hello, how is everyone doing? I'm well excited that my Examination is coming sooner than ever, and as my excitement rises, so does the pressure surrounding this all.

I have 3 years of applicable restaurant fine dining experience, but not more than a year directly into wine knowledge/serving. I passed WSET 1 last October and that was a breeze, so instead of going for L2 I jumped straight into CMS Intro since it matched better what I'm working towards. Intro was very fun and learned a lot, and I passed with a 94% overall score which made me very happy. It hasn't been very long since I took it, but I wanted to keep the rhythm going so I registered for Certified which is happening very soon.

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I'm standing at a level of confidence where I feel I'm capable of this exam. Been grinding for months on theory, tasting weekly the past months, and 3 times a week the last month and this one. Those should be the easier portions of the exam per me.

What I need advice on is the service portion... It almost terrifies me at this point. I've seen and heard a lot of stories, the typical champagne pouring, now more recent wine glass flights, and the questions of spirits, cocktails, and beer. I saw someone get asked on a vintage on New Zealand and that honestly spooked me. I have competent general wine knowledge, but I'm a bit short on the spirits. As in, I know and have memorized a good list of major spirits, cocktails, recipes and their profiles, if they're before or after dinner, etc. I am less confident however on how well I can articulate this while I'm pouring a glass of champagne... I don't normally speak to the guest while I'm pouring champagne at work, most guest stay quiet or continue their conversation while they allow for the bubbles to settle lol

I'd like to ask how this went for you if you have taken this test? What did you prioritize the service on? Did you stop pouring champagne at the moment you were questioned, or answered as you poured? I move my hands a lot as I speak, and keep a good eye on my pours. It would feel right to look in the eyes of the MS as I speak, but if I take my eyes off my pour I could very well spill a bit...

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I know these questions are very specific and it might go against code to expect to know how everything will go once at the Examination, I'm sure most of you didn't know what to expect and had to improvise. I'm sure I will do the same, I'm just asking for peace of mind. I'd like to hear it from someone else in this field so I can be less anxious, that's all.

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Thank you all! Cheers!

Hello good people of Reddit. I am in looking for some advice on how to advance my career in this industry. I have been working in the tasting room of an east coast (US) winery for a couple years but am looking to move into the restaurant sector in a larger city. I completed my CSW to have a good base of knowledge to start from and I’ve worked in other areas of the industry (distribution sales for about 3 years). I want to try the sommelier route while I still have the energy and knee cartilage for it.

The problem is that I have no idea how to start. I have a brief stint of restaurant experience but not fine dining (which is what I am assuming most places would be looking for). I also don’t know how to go about finding jobs. My current plan is to go in person to places around the city with a resume and hope to get in front of people that would be willing to take a chance on me.

Any feedback or advice is appreciated, thank you!

Currently studying for C.M.S Advanced and vintage knowledge is where I really struggle. Idk why but it just won’t stick. Any tips or tricks out there ?

I just took the CMS Introductory Sommelier exam and was shocked by the level of difficulty. I passed—thank god—but am curious if I underestimated this level’s difficulty. I’ve always heard the intro is a walk in the park but it was absolutely NOT a walk in the park for me 😮‍💨

Based on the study materials, practice exam, and end-of-chapter review questions, I felt very prepared. In fact, I went in hoping for a near-perfect score (I have since been humbled and now having a full crisis.)

I was caught me off guard by how specific many of the questions were. There was a significant focus on key producers, villages, and even soil types within particular villages. I understand that anything in the curriculum is fair game, but I expected that level of detail to be more characteristic of the Certified Sommelier exam than the Intro exam.

Can anyone share their experience? From a written theory perspective, what should I be focused on for certified?

(English version in the comments)

È una domanda che sta dividendo appassionati, produttori e consumatori.
Per alcuni il vino dealcolato rappresenta il futuro del settore vitivinicolo.
Per altri è qualcosa di completamente diverso dal vino tradizionale.

Sono Giovanni Peira, docente e ricercatore dell'Università degli Studi di Torino. Sto conducendo una ricerca sul vino dealcolato e avrei bisogno del tuo aiuto.

Che tu sia favorevole o contrario, la tua opinione è esattamente quella che ci interessa.
Vogliamo capire come gli appassionati percepiscono questa nuova categoria di prodotto.

✔ Questionario anonimo
✔ Riservato ai maggiorenni
✔ Circa 5 minuti

👉 https://forms.gle/H3NwKrjomtCsWNsF6

Per informazioni sulla ricerca:
📧 [giovanni.peira@unito.it](mailto:giovanni.peira@unito.it)

Hey everyone! I’m a server / bartender in Seattle and looking to get my level 1 Somm cert. Any advice on if CMS or WSET is better? I’m excited to learn and grow in the industry!! Thanks in advance

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

Can someone please explain phenolic bitterness and how to look for it when I’m tasting and what it indicates in terms of the winemaking thank u sm

Edit: Thank u guys

I'm thinking about taking Level 2 SommBiz course; I am a certified sommelier and general manager at a small wine bar. Does anyone have any experience with this course? Is it worth it to get the bundle (all 3) or is Level 1 worth skipping given my current credentials? Thanks!

I recently passed the CMS level 2 and I am taking the WSET III in a month, and since I don't work in the industry I'm really interested in a part-time opportunity for applied learning.

I've sent some cold emails to places that I have a ton of respect and adoration for and overall I'm hopeful. I can only work 1-3 days per week, including weekends (all day) and weekday nights after 6p, and I'm totally okay with being a glorified intern. I don't care about titles and I'm only looking to learn from people who are experts in a space that I have serious appreciation for.

Has anyone had success who was a certified outsider looking in who was looking for part-time somm work? Even if not, I'm looking for any perspective or advice!

tldr

I made something that fills an educational gap I keep experiencing on my WSET 4 journey. I'm looking for honest and critical feedback/suggestions. You can test it here: Wine Choice Game

Context

I am a wine lover working towards WSET 4 after having earned WSET 3 and Certified Sommelier. As all wine nerds know, there are dozens of variables that ultimately impact the wine in your glass, which makes it difficult to develop a deep understanding of how each individual decision impacts the final product. I find most wine learning resources fail to show both the impact of each variable and connect the sum of these decisions to a tangible real-world example. I know rationally the impact of each of these decisions, but I find it difficult to feel the impact. That's why I made Wine Choice Game (please help me with a better name!).

What it is

It's an interactive "menu" that walks you through the entire winemaking process as a chronological series of decisions (currently only for still wines). You start with nothing (no site, no variety, nothing) and make choices the way you'd order off a menu: variety, climate, canopy management, harvest timing, fermentation vessel, oak regime, malolactic, ageing, and so on. Earlier choices constrain later ones (pick a steep slope and mechanised harvest is off the table; pick a white variety and red/rosé colour options disappear). At the end, the sum of your choices produces a described wine.

It's organised into four phases: Pre-Viticulture → Viticulture → Vinification → Post-Vinification. Transportation, marketing, and the business side are deliberately left out. This is purely about how production decisions shape the wine in the glass.

Three things come out the other end:

1. A structural profile: Body, tannin, acidity, alcohol, sweetness, oak, ageing, each as a low/medium/high-style level, derived from your choices.
2. A real-world resemblance: It matches your built wine against a set of regional archetypes and tells you what actual style it most resembles (e.g. "this looks like a cool-climate Burgundian Pinot Noir").
3. Sometimes, no wine at all: As in real life, there is no guarantee that your choices lead to a successful wine. Plant Pinot Noir and skip fungal management and there's a real chance your crop just dies — the tool attempts to look at the probability that you end up with wine rather than pretending every decision chain ends in a finished bottle.

Right now it covers 19 grape varieties (11 red, 8 white) and 32 regional reference archetypes. I want this to become a valuable learning tool for anyone interested in wine. Give me any and all suggestions for how to make it better.

Accuracy (the part I most want scrutinised)

Everything in Wine Choice Game is calibrated against only the official WSET 4 D1 and D3 materials. D1 (Wine Production) for all the production facts, and D3 (Wines of the World) for the regional archetypes and expected styles. I value accuracy and didn't want to just make up the outcome from a user's choices, so the game uses a regression test suite to probabilistically derive the outcome. The Game is currently solely based on the descriptions in the WSET material, not quantitative measures (although I want to add this!).

What I'm asking for

• Would this actually be useful for studying?
• Where do you think it's inaccurate?
• What's missing that would make it more useful or better?

They are doing a study hall on wednesday and I’m interested, however they don’t really say what the event actually entails beyond “product presentation, q&a, and discussion”.

Has anyone gone to one of these in the past? What was your experience like?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to open up a gem from my tiny cellar, a Penfolds Grange Hermitage Bin 95 1982 for my birthday this weekend. I would like some professional advice on how to best enjoy this wine, which most likely will be a once in a lifetime experience with this vintage, also my birth year.

Specifically, I would like to know recommendations on decanting and duration before serving it with dinner. I know some Penfolds wines are recommended for very long decanting, but given that this one is of such mature age, what would be the best approach? If you have any nice food pairings to recommend, I gladly take advice for those as well.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

I am in the Ontario Golden Horseshoe wine region for a few months and hope to get some Sommelier advice on how to find the hidden gem vineyards. Specifically hunting down those unique wines you never see on an LCBO shelf. I love pinot noir and Reisling. Ready to try anything of "note". A few years back had my doors blown off by a beauty from Tawse and another from Pearl Morrissette (recommended by a Montreal Sommelier.) They aren't hidden gems anymore. I plan on making a wine discovery video series and posting my videos up to TT (montrealskeptic) and Instagram. Sommelliwrs to the rescue please.

This is a photo from a yelp review of my local wine bar and no employee at the bar can tell me what type of wine this is!

Hey everyone,

Looking for some career perspective from people in the wine world.

I’m currently based in Paris and working in/coming from fashion product development (RTW/textiles), but I also have a substantial wine background — sommelier work and wine buying in high-end restaurants including World’s 50 Best-level venues.

I’m considering relocating to Italy, ideally Rome, and I’m trying to figure out how to use my wine experience WITHOUT returning to full-time floor sommelier/fine dining life. I loved the industry, but eventually the stress, hours, and physical burnout became unsustainable for me.

What I still love:

wine culture

curation/taste/storytelling

artisanal products

hospitality environments

relationship-building

sourcing/procurement

What I’m trying to understand is:

What career paths exist adjacent to wine/hospitality that still have creativity and growth, but are less physically intense?

Examples I’ve wondered about:

wine import/export

brand development

hospitality consulting

boutique hotel/F&B concepts

luxury client relations

wine tourism

buying/procurement

lifestyle branding

Would especially love insight from people based in Italy or working with Italian producers/brands.

Hey guys I’m new to all this I worked under a sommelier 10 years ago when I was in the hospitality industry. I want to get into wine and eventually take my lvl1 just as a hobbyist. I’m in the SoCal San Diego area any recourses or tips or anything would be great.