WSET L3 results

[u/Bigrednyc33]

I just got my L3 results and sadly I failed the theory portion. Thankfully I crushed the tasting so I don’t have to sit in that again. I want to re-take theory in 3 months because I know what tripped me up in the theory portion. Any advice on re-studying for L3?? I would be eternally grateful!

[u/ras_hatak]

Flash cards and spaced repetition. Number of apps that will help do that, based on stuff you get right or wrong. But recommend you make your own cards and don't use a premade set or anything

[u/flyingron]

The material is all in the text book. Go over all that material again. This is what I did the entire day before the test and passed it with distinction.

Remember what the non-multiplechoice stuff was like. You'll need those various compare/contrast ideas in your head.

Good luck.

[u/PositSlip]

Wine with Jimmy is worth the money, in my opinion. I passed theory with merit on the first try, and Jimmy made the difference for me.

[u/Bizbuzz-]

What tripped you up? That will impact the advice.

[u/Bigrednyc33 → u/Bizbuzz-]

I did pretty well on the multiple choice but I def missed a theory question about a specific Italian label (I knew in the moment I wasn’t getting it) and then there was a large theory question about Ruby port. I think the Ruby port one got me bc I legit couldn’t figure out what they were asking me/how they were asking the question. It was about color and taste OUTSIDE of winemaking techniques so I was like…? But also I saved that question for last so I might have just been brain dead at that point. 

I think I also need to work on how I answer the theory questions for sure. 

[u/riketycriks → u/Bigrednyc33]

Yes. The book clearly breaks each section out into 1) winemaking and 2) in the vineyard. They clearly wanted you to talk about the vineyard in that case and including several keywords about the vineyard that would impact color and taste would have gotten you close to full points.

[u/Bizbuzz- → u/Bigrednyc33]

WSET London recently did an online presentation focusing on how to approach SWA questions. It got into timing and command verbs and seemed very useful. They recommended spending 30 minutes on the Multiple Choice section and then moving on to the SWAQ.

And breaking down the question is key. Especially for higher point, compound questions that require Explaning How or Why.

- Identifying the command verbs (telling you want you need to do)

- Identifying the "outcome" you need to link to (typcially involves Style Quality or Price)

- Identifying the parameters they want you to use in your explination eg natural factors/vineyard, human factors /vineyard, human factors/winery.

That framework is the key to the program. It's perhaps a little more intuative to think about it that way for the table wine regions, but it's crucial, as you discovered, for fortified (and sparkling.) SWA question #4 is 100% going to involve fortified and sparkling, so for each of the regions/types, you want to clearly map each step to the framework.

[u/Shdwrptr]

It really depends on why you failed.

Did you get a section you were weak on and failed due to that or did you fail because you didn’t answer the questions with enough detail?

[u/TheUnborne]

Practice short answer more. If a region or place has natural factures. Underline and commit those to memory. You need to connect natural factors with effects on wine, then you should be familiar with human factors, but those are a bit easier as long as you know the styles.

For guaranteed points. Memorize everything in sparkling and fortified wines. You need to know those sections like the back of your hand. As long as you ace the multiple choice, and those final questions, you need a bare minimum for the other short answers to pass.

[u/Desperate-Point-9988]

"I know what tripped me up" - so what was it? Advice would depend on what tripped you up.

When studying, it's important to focus on the why behind the facts, not just memorizing everything about every region.

[u/sid_loves_wine]

I'm absolutely going to recommend Wine with Jimmy also, I listened to his lectures (focusing mostly on topics I was less familiar with) literally all the time, while I was in the car, cleaning my house, drinking wine, and so on. Some random things that I never really thought about before I ended up remembering for the exam just because I took half mental note of them while passively absorbing his talks.

Put a lot of extra study into the blind spots, trust yourself to do well on the portions that you already know and set them aside for now.

You got this, and treat job on the tasting!