5 Reasons to Study a WSET Wine Course

Are you a stew or stewardess and thinking of completing a course during the winter? Why not learn all about wine and spirits by completing WSET Wine & Spirits qualification. Riviera Wine are offering these internationally recognised courses in Juan Les Pins in February and March. 

These courses are perfect for yacht crew who work with wine already, want to help take their career further and simply have a love of wine.

Our courses are run by Master of Wine Louise Sydbeck and our team of qualified wine educators, who liven up the syllabus to make the courses informative and fun. We guarantee that once you start your wine learning journey, it really does open up a whole new world and you never look back!

What is WSET?

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) are the leading provider of wine and spirits qualifications in the world. They are based in London, and have around 600 centres in 60 different countries that are able to deliver the course.

WSET currently offer 5 different qualification, from a one day Level 1 through to the two year Level 4 Diploma. For the yachting industry we think the three day course Level 2 is a great place to start and gives interior crew the knowledge and confidence when it comes to wine.

Riviera Wine were the first provider on the Riviera and we teach both WSET Level 2 and Level 3 Awards in wine and spirit.

Over the years we have helped hundreds of yacht crew to pass these qualifications and increase their chances of the perfect job. You can read some our testimonials here.

5 Reasons to complete a WSET Course

We think there are plenty of good reasons to study a wine course – both personal and professional. Here are just five that we hope will do a little to convince you:

1. Feel more confident in front of yacht guests when serving wine. We know that wine can sometimes be an intimidating and daunting subject, with so many different regions, grapes, confusing labels and vintages, it is easy to get confused.

When you are serving some of the most expensive wine to some of the richest people in the world, then it’s great if you can feel confident serving the wine correctly, responding to questions from guests and pairing it with food. These courses will give you the knowledge to do this like a pro.

2. Feel more confident buying wine and managing stock. We have found that many steward/ess are responsible for large wine budgets but sometimes feel a bit out of their depth.

If you learn about wine then you can keep a better wine inventory and understand when wines are best for drinking now and which wines you might need to use quickly, such as wines like Pinot Grigio and Provence rose which are best drinking young.

Sometimes you might be in a location where you can’t always get the wine requested by guests, so you would then have the skills to be able to recommend an alternative wine that is similar.

3. You will get the opportunity to taste lots of delicious wine. On the Level 2 course we try around 35 wines from around the world and on the Level 3 around 100.

Experience new wine tastes, learn stories about the wines and maybe even find a new favourite. Every student ends the course liking something very surprising.

4. You will gain an internationally recognised qualification that you put on your CV. This qualification is great for yachting, especially if you are a Chief Steward/ess or aspiring to become one.

Even when you decide to leave yachting, this qualification is widely recognised amongst the hospitality industry and even wine industry if you decided to pursue that avenue. You could even follow the challenging route Louise took to become a Master of Wine.

5. Impress your friends and family with your new knowledge! Nearly everyone is amazed when they find out that you have ‘studied wine’ – in fact most people don’t even realise these qualifications exist.

It is guaranteed that everyone will be handing you the wine list when you go to restaurant and asking you for the latest recommendations. We offer two different courses and here is a little detail about each:

WSET Level 2 Award in Wine & Spirits

The Level 2 Award is an intensive course lasting three days with an exam at the end of Day 3. The exam an hour long and comprises of 50 multiple choice questions.

The syllabus includes topics such as the how to professional taste wine, food and wine pairing, key wine-producing areas of the world, grape varieties, label terminology. Spirits, sweet, sparkling and fortified wines are also covered. You will try around 35 different wines and spirits during the duration of the course.

WSET Level 3 Awards in Wine & Spirits

The WSET Level 3 Award lasts 6 days and it is a very intense, informative in-depth wine course. It is strongly recommended to have done the Level 2 before or to have an equal level of experience and knowledge.

During the first 5 days we will taste 100 wines, go through wine making and viticulture, classification systems, wine regions and grape varieties and much more. On the morning of the 6th day you will take your exam which consists of a blind tasting and theory part.

This course really gives you good base in the world of wine and you will be able to advice and recommend your clients with great confidence.

Dates

For dates of WSET Level 2 and 3 courses please call +33 (0)4 93 34 06 43 
Or email: info@rivierawine.fr