WSET 2 SUMMARY
Wines: Looking behind the label – Issue 1, 2019
English version
, Section 1: Wine and the Consumer
1. Tasting and evaluating wine
Main focus
Systematic approach to tasting wine (SAT) which is taught in the WSET 2 level helps students to:
• Communicate to other people what a wine is like;
• To remind oneself of a wine that was liked during class;
• To compare with others or to make a recommendation.
SAT structure
• 1. Sufficient lighting & note pad
• 2. Room free of odours & have a clean palate
• 3. Table set up & glass ware
- Spittoons, water glasses, suitable & very clean wine glasses (preferably ISO -> rounded bowl and inward-sloping)
Preparing
• 4. Pouring measurement
tasting - Suggesting a 5 cl sample each time for consistency and prevention of spillage
• 1. Intensity: how much colour does the wine have?
> pale - medium - deep
- Holding the glass at a 45 degree angle
- Look through liquid from above to see how far the colour extends from the core (deep part bowl) to the rim (shallowest depth of the wine, the edge)
- Assessing white wine: Broad watery rim = pale, if all colour extends to the rim when tilting at angle = deep
- Assessing red wine: Looking at the rim or looking down in the glass -> If you can't see the stem, it can be described as deep in colour
• 2. Colour
Appearance White: lemon - gold - amber
Rose: pink - pink-orange - orange
Red: purple - ruby - garnet - tawny
• Before taking a sniff: Swirl the glass
1. Intensity: light (even after swirling very faint) - medium - pronounced (immediate when sticking nose in glass)
2. Aroma characteristics: USE THE WINE LEXICON AS PROVIDED BY YOUR WSET 2 TEACHING FACILITY To note:
- Primary aromas: Grapy variety and alcoholic fermentation
Nose - Secondary aromas: Post-fermentation (e.g. oak influence, malolactic conversion, autolysis) - White wines can’t have red fruit notes
- Tertiary aromas: Maturation (oxidative or lack of oxygen -> both instances will change the primary aromas or make them less fresh/more perceived as dried fruits)
- American oak can give off aromas of coconut
• Sweetness = amount of (residual) sugar in the wine
- Aromas of mushroom/forest floor doesn’t
• Acidity = tingling sensation, makes your mouth water, can mask sugars if well balanced necessarily mean a wine is off. They can
• Tannins = coming from grape skins, so can only be found in red wines -> dries the mouth/making it feel rough around the gums
• Alcohol = alcohol percentage of the wine (burning sensation) develop due to ageing!
Palate • Body = how the wine feels in the mouth using sensation (combination of sugar, alcohol, tannins and acidity)
• Flavour intensity = how powerful?
- Scent aromas of petrol are typical with ageing
• Flavour characteristics = should be the same as detected on the nose, preferably more when tasting after the wine has warmed in the mouth Riesling, you don’t taste it
• Finish = how long does the sensation of the wine linger in the mouth/back of throat after swallowing/spitting out?
Quality level: - - (poor) / - (acceptable) / - + (good) / + (very good) / ++ (outstanding)
Quality based on:
Conclusions 1. Balance: Elements in the wine help each other (e.g. proper amount of acidity compared to sugar)
2. Length/finish: Pleasant sensation after being swallowed or spat out
3. Identifiable characters/intensity of flavours: Well defined flavours / matching expectations of grape variety
1 4. Complexity: Desirable feature, purity / definition, can come from primary alone in some cases
,2. Pairing wine and food
Generally, food has more impact on the way a wine tastes than the other way round.
Pairing wine should be focused on 1) the basic (chemical) interactions between
food and wine and 2) the preferences of the individual. Meaning: Don’t recommend
a wine if it would not go well with a complete dish, parts or the condiments or if
the person has a dislike for a certain grape variety or flavour/smell of the wine.
Example from Introduction Course Court of Master Sommeliers:
2
,3. Storage and service of wine
Before serving: Check for common wine faults
• Cork taint: TCA (Trichloroanisole) -> Caused by contaminated cork. WET CARDBOARD
• Failure of closure: Unwanted oxygen in wine -> Faulty cork/cap. AROMAS OF HONEY/CARAMEL/COFFEE. Some wines are made in this
style, but you shouldn’t expect these aromas in the majority of wines that should be consumed when young and fruity
• Heat damage -> Exposure to direct sunlight/artificial lights or stored in too hot temperatures. DULL AND STALE. Loses freshness.
Service temperature table
Keeping a wine fresh after serving/opening:
• Vacuum system > pump which removes the air from inside the bottle
• Blanket system > pump a gas into the bottle which pushes the air out (the gas will not harm the wine)
Note that there are different regulations per country in regards to alcohol consumption and when consumption is deemed excessive or
dangerous.
3
, Section 2: Factors affecting wine style and quality
4. Grape growing and related labelling terms
Vines
Vines can live up to 60 years or more. Predominantly European species (not in book: vitis vinifera) is used in winemaking. Variety in species
(meaning: variety in vitis vinifera grape types) makes for having different wine varieties. During winter, vines are dormant and do not grow.
Vines needs (5): warmth + sunlight + carbon dioxide + water + nutrients from the soil = healthy grapes
Grape formation
Flowering
Fruit set
Harvesting
(spring)
Extra
ripening (if Veraison
applicable)
Ripening
Botrytis Frozen grapes
(Eiswein)
4
Wines: Looking behind the label – Issue 1, 2019
English version
, Section 1: Wine and the Consumer
1. Tasting and evaluating wine
Main focus
Systematic approach to tasting wine (SAT) which is taught in the WSET 2 level helps students to:
• Communicate to other people what a wine is like;
• To remind oneself of a wine that was liked during class;
• To compare with others or to make a recommendation.
SAT structure
• 1. Sufficient lighting & note pad
• 2. Room free of odours & have a clean palate
• 3. Table set up & glass ware
- Spittoons, water glasses, suitable & very clean wine glasses (preferably ISO -> rounded bowl and inward-sloping)
Preparing
• 4. Pouring measurement
tasting - Suggesting a 5 cl sample each time for consistency and prevention of spillage
• 1. Intensity: how much colour does the wine have?
> pale - medium - deep
- Holding the glass at a 45 degree angle
- Look through liquid from above to see how far the colour extends from the core (deep part bowl) to the rim (shallowest depth of the wine, the edge)
- Assessing white wine: Broad watery rim = pale, if all colour extends to the rim when tilting at angle = deep
- Assessing red wine: Looking at the rim or looking down in the glass -> If you can't see the stem, it can be described as deep in colour
• 2. Colour
Appearance White: lemon - gold - amber
Rose: pink - pink-orange - orange
Red: purple - ruby - garnet - tawny
• Before taking a sniff: Swirl the glass
1. Intensity: light (even after swirling very faint) - medium - pronounced (immediate when sticking nose in glass)
2. Aroma characteristics: USE THE WINE LEXICON AS PROVIDED BY YOUR WSET 2 TEACHING FACILITY To note:
- Primary aromas: Grapy variety and alcoholic fermentation
Nose - Secondary aromas: Post-fermentation (e.g. oak influence, malolactic conversion, autolysis) - White wines can’t have red fruit notes
- Tertiary aromas: Maturation (oxidative or lack of oxygen -> both instances will change the primary aromas or make them less fresh/more perceived as dried fruits)
- American oak can give off aromas of coconut
• Sweetness = amount of (residual) sugar in the wine
- Aromas of mushroom/forest floor doesn’t
• Acidity = tingling sensation, makes your mouth water, can mask sugars if well balanced necessarily mean a wine is off. They can
• Tannins = coming from grape skins, so can only be found in red wines -> dries the mouth/making it feel rough around the gums
• Alcohol = alcohol percentage of the wine (burning sensation) develop due to ageing!
Palate • Body = how the wine feels in the mouth using sensation (combination of sugar, alcohol, tannins and acidity)
• Flavour intensity = how powerful?
- Scent aromas of petrol are typical with ageing
• Flavour characteristics = should be the same as detected on the nose, preferably more when tasting after the wine has warmed in the mouth Riesling, you don’t taste it
• Finish = how long does the sensation of the wine linger in the mouth/back of throat after swallowing/spitting out?
Quality level: - - (poor) / - (acceptable) / - + (good) / + (very good) / ++ (outstanding)
Quality based on:
Conclusions 1. Balance: Elements in the wine help each other (e.g. proper amount of acidity compared to sugar)
2. Length/finish: Pleasant sensation after being swallowed or spat out
3. Identifiable characters/intensity of flavours: Well defined flavours / matching expectations of grape variety
1 4. Complexity: Desirable feature, purity / definition, can come from primary alone in some cases
,2. Pairing wine and food
Generally, food has more impact on the way a wine tastes than the other way round.
Pairing wine should be focused on 1) the basic (chemical) interactions between
food and wine and 2) the preferences of the individual. Meaning: Don’t recommend
a wine if it would not go well with a complete dish, parts or the condiments or if
the person has a dislike for a certain grape variety or flavour/smell of the wine.
Example from Introduction Course Court of Master Sommeliers:
2
,3. Storage and service of wine
Before serving: Check for common wine faults
• Cork taint: TCA (Trichloroanisole) -> Caused by contaminated cork. WET CARDBOARD
• Failure of closure: Unwanted oxygen in wine -> Faulty cork/cap. AROMAS OF HONEY/CARAMEL/COFFEE. Some wines are made in this
style, but you shouldn’t expect these aromas in the majority of wines that should be consumed when young and fruity
• Heat damage -> Exposure to direct sunlight/artificial lights or stored in too hot temperatures. DULL AND STALE. Loses freshness.
Service temperature table
Keeping a wine fresh after serving/opening:
• Vacuum system > pump which removes the air from inside the bottle
• Blanket system > pump a gas into the bottle which pushes the air out (the gas will not harm the wine)
Note that there are different regulations per country in regards to alcohol consumption and when consumption is deemed excessive or
dangerous.
3
, Section 2: Factors affecting wine style and quality
4. Grape growing and related labelling terms
Vines
Vines can live up to 60 years or more. Predominantly European species (not in book: vitis vinifera) is used in winemaking. Variety in species
(meaning: variety in vitis vinifera grape types) makes for having different wine varieties. During winter, vines are dormant and do not grow.
Vines needs (5): warmth + sunlight + carbon dioxide + water + nutrients from the soil = healthy grapes
Grape formation
Flowering
Fruit set
Harvesting
(spring)
Extra
ripening (if Veraison
applicable)
Ripening
Botrytis Frozen grapes
(Eiswein)
4
