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WSET Diploma D1 Exam 2025 – Wine Production
Study Guide, Notes, and Practice Questions
Prepare for the WSET Diploma D1: Wine Production Exam 2025 with this in-depth study
guide. Learn viticulture, winemaking processes, fermentation science, and global wine
production techniques to master Unit D1 and advance your WSET Diploma success.
• WSET Diploma D1 exam
• WSET D1 wine production
• WSET Diploma study guide
• WSET D1 notes 2025
Name techniques involved in canopy management - ANSWER-- site assessment to determine ideal
planting material and orientation
- vine training
- winter pruning
- vine trellising
- plant vigor management
- summer pruning (shoot pruning, positioning, pinching, trimming, leaf removal, green harvesting)
What factors should be considered when determining the most appropriate training and trellising
method? - ANSWER-- vine vigor
- topography
- need for mechanization
,2|Page
Describe head training - ANSWER-- relatively little permanent wood consisting of the trunk, sometimes
with a few short stubs growing from the top of the trunk
- can either be spur-pruned or replacement cane-pruned.
Describe cordon training - ANSWER-- typically a trunk and one or more permanent horizontal arms of
permanent wood (cordons)
- usually spur-pruned
- takes longer to establish than head training due to the amount of permanent wood
Define spur pruning - ANSWER-short sections of one-year-old wood (the shoots from the last growing
season that have lignified) that have been cut back to only two or three buds
- can either be distributed along a cordon (cordon training) or around the top of the trunk (head
training)
- easier to carry out than replacement cane pruning and can often be mechanized
What are advantages of herbicides? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- cheap, effective, little soil damage
- poisoning, discourage ecosystems, weed resistance, increase in vine vigor, not allowed in organic & BD
viticulture
What are advantages of animal grazing? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- no chemicals, manure, animals are
source of meat
- high training for vines, caring for animals, animals susceptible to pesticides
What are advantages of cover crops? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- no chemicals, can influence vigor,
good surface for machinery
- reduction in vigor, difficulty in mowing, not suitable for steep slopes
What are advantages of mulching? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- no chemicals, reduce water evaporation,
source of nutrients and humus
- bulky, a lot is needed, can increase vigor
What can help mitigate evaporation? - ANSWER-mulch, humus
,3|Page
What is RDI? When is water deficit usually scheduled? What are potentially detrimental effects of RDI? -
ANSWER-- Regulated deficit irrigation: a system of timing and regulating the amount of irrigation so that
the vine is put under mild to moderate water stress for a specified time within the growing season
- between fruit set and veraison
- lower Y, smaller berries
How can water be managed in high rainfall areas? - ANSWER-- artificial drainage systems
- competition for water by allowing natural vegetation or planting specific crops
- improving soil structure (eg, by removing plough pans)
Define canopy management - ANSWER-organization of the shoots, leaves and fruit of the vine in order
to maximize grape yield and quality
Define replacement cane pruning - ANSWER-- longer sections of one-year-old wood with anything
between 8 and 20 buds, typically laid down horizontally and need tying to a trellis for support and
positioning
- more complex than spur pruning and requires a skilled labor force to pick suitable canes and train
them
What are the benefits and detriments of untrellised vines? - ANSWER-- simple & inexpensive, provides
shade
- not possible to mechanize, canopy can become too dense
What are the two types of frosts? - ANSWER-- advective: large volumes of cold air moving in from very
cold areas
- radiative: heat being lost on still, cool nights (Windless nights will allow a layer of freezing cold air to
develop just above the surface of the soil)
How do growers reduce the risk of frost damage in advance? - ANSWER-- site selection
- delaying pruning
, 4|Page
- late-budding varieties
- high training
- bare soils between the vines
How do growers reduce the risk of frost damage when frost threatens? - ANSWER-- sprinklers
- turbines
- heaters
How do growers deal with hail? - ANSWER-- cloud rockets
- nets
- diversity of sites
- insurance
How can winemakers deal with smoke taint? - ANSWER-- analysis of must or test fermentations
(ferment releases smoky aromas) leading to harvest
- gentle handling, whole bunch pressing/harvesting of grapes
- low fermentation T, reduced maceration
- flash detente, reverse osmosis
- blending with unaffected wines
What are the symptoms of phylloxera infestation? - ANSWER-- Vines die of drought in patches that
increase in size year by year
- Vine roots are covered with the insects surrounded by yellow eggs
- Swellings on older roots
- Pale green leaf galls on the under-surface of the leaves
- Slow, stunted shoot growth and leaf yellowing appears in around three years, the plant dies after
around five years
What are the two most commonly occurring nematodes? - ANSWER-root-knot and dagger
WSET Diploma D1 Exam 2025 – Wine Production
Study Guide, Notes, and Practice Questions
Prepare for the WSET Diploma D1: Wine Production Exam 2025 with this in-depth study
guide. Learn viticulture, winemaking processes, fermentation science, and global wine
production techniques to master Unit D1 and advance your WSET Diploma success.
• WSET Diploma D1 exam
• WSET D1 wine production
• WSET Diploma study guide
• WSET D1 notes 2025
Name techniques involved in canopy management - ANSWER-- site assessment to determine ideal
planting material and orientation
- vine training
- winter pruning
- vine trellising
- plant vigor management
- summer pruning (shoot pruning, positioning, pinching, trimming, leaf removal, green harvesting)
What factors should be considered when determining the most appropriate training and trellising
method? - ANSWER-- vine vigor
- topography
- need for mechanization
,2|Page
Describe head training - ANSWER-- relatively little permanent wood consisting of the trunk, sometimes
with a few short stubs growing from the top of the trunk
- can either be spur-pruned or replacement cane-pruned.
Describe cordon training - ANSWER-- typically a trunk and one or more permanent horizontal arms of
permanent wood (cordons)
- usually spur-pruned
- takes longer to establish than head training due to the amount of permanent wood
Define spur pruning - ANSWER-short sections of one-year-old wood (the shoots from the last growing
season that have lignified) that have been cut back to only two or three buds
- can either be distributed along a cordon (cordon training) or around the top of the trunk (head
training)
- easier to carry out than replacement cane pruning and can often be mechanized
What are advantages of herbicides? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- cheap, effective, little soil damage
- poisoning, discourage ecosystems, weed resistance, increase in vine vigor, not allowed in organic & BD
viticulture
What are advantages of animal grazing? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- no chemicals, manure, animals are
source of meat
- high training for vines, caring for animals, animals susceptible to pesticides
What are advantages of cover crops? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- no chemicals, can influence vigor,
good surface for machinery
- reduction in vigor, difficulty in mowing, not suitable for steep slopes
What are advantages of mulching? Disadvantages? - ANSWER-- no chemicals, reduce water evaporation,
source of nutrients and humus
- bulky, a lot is needed, can increase vigor
What can help mitigate evaporation? - ANSWER-mulch, humus
,3|Page
What is RDI? When is water deficit usually scheduled? What are potentially detrimental effects of RDI? -
ANSWER-- Regulated deficit irrigation: a system of timing and regulating the amount of irrigation so that
the vine is put under mild to moderate water stress for a specified time within the growing season
- between fruit set and veraison
- lower Y, smaller berries
How can water be managed in high rainfall areas? - ANSWER-- artificial drainage systems
- competition for water by allowing natural vegetation or planting specific crops
- improving soil structure (eg, by removing plough pans)
Define canopy management - ANSWER-organization of the shoots, leaves and fruit of the vine in order
to maximize grape yield and quality
Define replacement cane pruning - ANSWER-- longer sections of one-year-old wood with anything
between 8 and 20 buds, typically laid down horizontally and need tying to a trellis for support and
positioning
- more complex than spur pruning and requires a skilled labor force to pick suitable canes and train
them
What are the benefits and detriments of untrellised vines? - ANSWER-- simple & inexpensive, provides
shade
- not possible to mechanize, canopy can become too dense
What are the two types of frosts? - ANSWER-- advective: large volumes of cold air moving in from very
cold areas
- radiative: heat being lost on still, cool nights (Windless nights will allow a layer of freezing cold air to
develop just above the surface of the soil)
How do growers reduce the risk of frost damage in advance? - ANSWER-- site selection
- delaying pruning
, 4|Page
- late-budding varieties
- high training
- bare soils between the vines
How do growers reduce the risk of frost damage when frost threatens? - ANSWER-- sprinklers
- turbines
- heaters
How do growers deal with hail? - ANSWER-- cloud rockets
- nets
- diversity of sites
- insurance
How can winemakers deal with smoke taint? - ANSWER-- analysis of must or test fermentations
(ferment releases smoky aromas) leading to harvest
- gentle handling, whole bunch pressing/harvesting of grapes
- low fermentation T, reduced maceration
- flash detente, reverse osmosis
- blending with unaffected wines
What are the symptoms of phylloxera infestation? - ANSWER-- Vines die of drought in patches that
increase in size year by year
- Vine roots are covered with the insects surrounded by yellow eggs
- Swellings on older roots
- Pale green leaf galls on the under-surface of the leaves
- Slow, stunted shoot growth and leaf yellowing appears in around three years, the plant dies after
around five years
What are the two most commonly occurring nematodes? - ANSWER-root-knot and dagger
