The Auswine Forum

Hi guys

Been looking at doing a WSET Level 2 wine course for a long time.
Is there anybody on here that has done this with distance learning. I live in Alice Springs and the remoteness is a killer.

If anybody has had any good experiences of doing this course I'd love to hear about it, and where you completed it.

Cheers

Also if anyone knows of any providers where you can do the course online

Hi Rw&R,

Unfortunately, I can't help you with the Alice Springs and distance learning thing, but I think the tasting portion would/could be hard as part of the fun/learning of it is the classroom interaction with what everyone is tasting when they are tasting the same wine. Although tasting is not tested @ Level2, it's still where a lot of the learning comes from.

I completed mine in Sydney (NSI TAFE i think the name is). Instructor was good, knowledgeable and a WSET diploma graduate.

L2 was not difficult, and I'm not a massive wine nerd. The good thing about it for me was to learn a lot more about old world wines and get out of predominately Aussie wines.

You have to ask yourself why you want to do it? Do you want to make a career out of it and do L3, and a diploma? Do you need it for work eg retail/restaurant? Or just for fun. I did it for fun and to increase my personal knowledge into wine. I did learn some, but tbh, not heaps.

The exam is 50 multi choice, and I'm pretty sure I would've passed with the knowledge I had to start with, but i did need to study a little to get distinction 85%+ i think....

I would like to do L3, again, out of fun and self interest, but I don't really have that much time so maybe for something down the track.

If you already know a bit about wine and I've told a few ppl the same at offlines, I would prob skip L2 and do L3... Not sure if they let you do that though?

Either way, it was fun for me and a good way to have spent 10 Tuesday nights doing it.

I did the L2 (aka The wine Behind the Label) at NSI Tafe or Sydney Wine Academy as it prefers to be called. Best three days I've ever spent in a class-room. It was over a long weekend IIRC and the guided tastings, of which there is a lot, and the discussions that follow are the most valuable part. The WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting is the practical skill that carries through (albeit with more detail) in all courses. It's the thing that needs the most practice. No distance option at SWA but go to WSET Global and they will point you in the right direction.

Followed it up with the L3 and that was over 10 weekends and it was much more intense and in-depth. 100 multi-choice questions and identify two wines in the exam (a South African Chenin and a mid 90s Barberesco). They don't do distance for this one but again WSET Global will be able to help you.

I'll be finishing the two year Diploma in January and it's without doubt the hardest course of study I've ever done. A lot of factual recall and blind tasting practice required. The exam is a three hour tasting exam of 4 brackets of three wines followed by a three hour written exam of essays and short paragraph questions. This can be done by distance but you have to be able to get there a few times a year for exams.

To be honest, at the moment I want to do it for fun and to increase my knowledge.
In the short-medium term I am very interested in opening a boutique wine store, as well as premium spirits and craft beers (which I brew myself at the moment).

So the study would come in handy and be very valuable to me if I ever get around to starting my own business, even if it is 1-5 years away.

In the meantime back to driving copius amount of red. The Marius just rocked up yesterday afternoon. As did 12 Majella cabernets. Plenty of stock in the wine fridge and wine rack now

Is travelling to do it an option? Reason I ask, is it was previously available as an intense 2 day (maybe 2.5 day) course in Perth. Not sure if its still being done or not.

I did the level two course in Perth through fullbottle.net.au. Like others have said, a lot of the fun is in the tasting.

Yes drinking wine is always lots of fun