WSET Level 3 Exam Questions and Answers With Verified Solutions 2025
Cutting - ✔✔Section of a vine shoot that is planted and then grows as a new plant
Vitis vinifera - ✔✔Main Eurasian species
Clonal selection - ✔✔Vines with positive mutations are selected for further propagation by cutting or
layering, so that the positive characteristics of these vines can be carried forward in new plantings
Crossings - ✔✔When a new variety is produced from two parents of the same species
Grafting - ✔✔Technique used to join a rootstock to a V. vinifera variety
véraison - ✔✔Change of color when the grape is ripening
Latitude where grapes are grown - ✔✔between 30-50 degrees north and south of the equator
Earthing up - ✔✔Process used to protect from the winter freeze, where earth is used to cover up and
protect the graft
Methods to protect from spring frost - ✔✔-Heaters: placed throughout the vineyard and lit if frost is
forecast. Creates movement in the air and prevents cold air from settling and causing frost
-Wind machines: large fan that draws warm air from above to keep the temperature at ground level
above freezing
-Sprinklers: spray water on to the vines, so as the water freezes, it releases some heat into the plant
tissue protecting the buds and shoots
-Thoughtful vineyard design: planting vineyards on slopes and avoiding depressing in which cold air can
collect. Also training vines high to avoid cold air that sinks to the ground
Transpiration - ✔✔Process when the vine accesses water through its roots and draws it up to its leaves
,Irrigation techniques - ✔✔Drip irrigation: most advanced and most expensive. Each vine has its own
dripper that can be computer controlled to ensure that each vine gets the optimum amount of water
Sprinklers: Cheaper but waste a lot of water and create damp conditions in the vineyard, causing a risk
of disease
Flood irrigation: only possible in vineyards that are flat or very gently sloping and where there is access
to large quantities of water
Water hazards - ✔✔Drought
Too much water - vine will continue to grow shots and leaves during ripening season, leaving less sugar
for ripening grapes. Damp conditions can also encourage the spread of fungal diseases
Hail - can use netting for protection
Continental climate - ✔✔Greatest difference in temp b/w the hottest and coldest months (high
continentality)
Better suited to varieties that bud late and ripen early
Maritime climate - ✔✔Cool to moderate temps and a low annual difference between the hottest and
coldest months
Warm enough for grapes to continue ripening through the autumn
Mediterranean climate - ✔✔Low temp difference between the hottest and coldest months but the
summers tend to be warm and dry
Extra warmth and sunlight leads to wines that are fuller bodied with riper tannins, higher alc, and lower
levels of acidity
Loam - ✔✔Mixture of sand and clay particles
Most important nutrients for a vine - ✔✔Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium
Vine training - ✔✔Shape of permanent wood of the vine
, Head training - ✔✔Relatively little permanent wood, some only have a trunk
Cordon training - ✔✔Trunk with one or more permanent horizontal arms
Spur pruning - ✔✔Spurs are short sections of one-year-old wood that have been cut down to only two
or three buds
Replacement cane pruning - ✔✔Canes are longer sections of one-year-old wood and can have anything
between 8-20 buds
Trellises - ✔✔Permanent structures of stakes and wires that are used to support any replacement canes
and the vine's annual growth
Canopy management - ✔✔Posts are joined by horizontal wires, and then the vine's canes and shoots are
tied to the trellis
Density - ✔✔No. of vines planted in a given area
Limited water availability - ✔✔Low planting density to allow each vine's roots to take up water from a
large volume of soil without having to compete with one another
Sufficient rainfall and low levels of nutrients - ✔✔Vines planted at a high density (if it can access enough
water, it can survive in relatively low-nutrient soil)
High levels of nutrients and sufficient rainfall - ✔✔Very fertile soils are not suitable for viticulture
Low density plantings using vines with multiple cordons or canes
Pests - ✔✔Phylloxera: insect native to N. America, V. vinifera unable to defend itself against it
Nematodes: microscopic worms that attack the roots of vines, interfering with water and nutrient
uptake. Can sometimes transmit diseases too
Cutting - ✔✔Section of a vine shoot that is planted and then grows as a new plant
Vitis vinifera - ✔✔Main Eurasian species
Clonal selection - ✔✔Vines with positive mutations are selected for further propagation by cutting or
layering, so that the positive characteristics of these vines can be carried forward in new plantings
Crossings - ✔✔When a new variety is produced from two parents of the same species
Grafting - ✔✔Technique used to join a rootstock to a V. vinifera variety
véraison - ✔✔Change of color when the grape is ripening
Latitude where grapes are grown - ✔✔between 30-50 degrees north and south of the equator
Earthing up - ✔✔Process used to protect from the winter freeze, where earth is used to cover up and
protect the graft
Methods to protect from spring frost - ✔✔-Heaters: placed throughout the vineyard and lit if frost is
forecast. Creates movement in the air and prevents cold air from settling and causing frost
-Wind machines: large fan that draws warm air from above to keep the temperature at ground level
above freezing
-Sprinklers: spray water on to the vines, so as the water freezes, it releases some heat into the plant
tissue protecting the buds and shoots
-Thoughtful vineyard design: planting vineyards on slopes and avoiding depressing in which cold air can
collect. Also training vines high to avoid cold air that sinks to the ground
Transpiration - ✔✔Process when the vine accesses water through its roots and draws it up to its leaves
,Irrigation techniques - ✔✔Drip irrigation: most advanced and most expensive. Each vine has its own
dripper that can be computer controlled to ensure that each vine gets the optimum amount of water
Sprinklers: Cheaper but waste a lot of water and create damp conditions in the vineyard, causing a risk
of disease
Flood irrigation: only possible in vineyards that are flat or very gently sloping and where there is access
to large quantities of water
Water hazards - ✔✔Drought
Too much water - vine will continue to grow shots and leaves during ripening season, leaving less sugar
for ripening grapes. Damp conditions can also encourage the spread of fungal diseases
Hail - can use netting for protection
Continental climate - ✔✔Greatest difference in temp b/w the hottest and coldest months (high
continentality)
Better suited to varieties that bud late and ripen early
Maritime climate - ✔✔Cool to moderate temps and a low annual difference between the hottest and
coldest months
Warm enough for grapes to continue ripening through the autumn
Mediterranean climate - ✔✔Low temp difference between the hottest and coldest months but the
summers tend to be warm and dry
Extra warmth and sunlight leads to wines that are fuller bodied with riper tannins, higher alc, and lower
levels of acidity
Loam - ✔✔Mixture of sand and clay particles
Most important nutrients for a vine - ✔✔Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium
Vine training - ✔✔Shape of permanent wood of the vine
, Head training - ✔✔Relatively little permanent wood, some only have a trunk
Cordon training - ✔✔Trunk with one or more permanent horizontal arms
Spur pruning - ✔✔Spurs are short sections of one-year-old wood that have been cut down to only two
or three buds
Replacement cane pruning - ✔✔Canes are longer sections of one-year-old wood and can have anything
between 8-20 buds
Trellises - ✔✔Permanent structures of stakes and wires that are used to support any replacement canes
and the vine's annual growth
Canopy management - ✔✔Posts are joined by horizontal wires, and then the vine's canes and shoots are
tied to the trellis
Density - ✔✔No. of vines planted in a given area
Limited water availability - ✔✔Low planting density to allow each vine's roots to take up water from a
large volume of soil without having to compete with one another
Sufficient rainfall and low levels of nutrients - ✔✔Vines planted at a high density (if it can access enough
water, it can survive in relatively low-nutrient soil)
High levels of nutrients and sufficient rainfall - ✔✔Very fertile soils are not suitable for viticulture
Low density plantings using vines with multiple cordons or canes
Pests - ✔✔Phylloxera: insect native to N. America, V. vinifera unable to defend itself against it
Nematodes: microscopic worms that attack the roots of vines, interfering with water and nutrient
uptake. Can sometimes transmit diseases too
