The Wine Fairy

I got my Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 2 results last Friday! As promised, I’m sharing those results along with some tips for doing your best on the Level 2 exam.

Over the last few months, I studied hard to build a wine vocabulary and a basic understanding of styles and regions. Then, I took the Level 2 Award in Wines class in-person at the Dallas Wine Education Center in January 2025. The time and effort paid off. I passed with Distinction and a score of 98%!

I’ve heard some wine snobs say that WSET Level 2 is super easy and no one needs to study for it. But if you think that, then why are you on this page? Go hate-read something else–like Robert Parker reviews–and leave me alone.

The truth is, the Level 2 Award in Wines isn’t extremely difficult. But it does test specialized wine knowledge–the kind that you acquire through extensive industry experience and/or formal study. Whether you’re taking the course for work or your own enrichment, you’ll get more out of the class and exam if you’re well-prepared.

So here is my extremely long and detailed study guide, broken down into 17 helpful tips. I’m going to share how I aced the WSET Level 2 Exam (and you can, too!).

Tip #1: Everything Is In the Book

This was the most encouraging piece of advice I received while studying for WSET Level 2, so I’ll say it again: The answer to every question is in the book.

There is no surprise knowledge and no external research required. The exam is fair–that is, the study materials cover all possible exam questions. A question’s answer may be tucked away in a caption or a diagram or a map, but it’s there. If you learn the textbook/workbook and learn them well, you’re basically guaranteed to come out well on exam day.

Enjoy being a completionist while you can! From what I’ve heard, cramming from the textbook will only take you through Level 2. At Level 3, the memorization strategy begins to fray at the edges. Level 3 covers a lot more material and the exam includes short answer essays and a blind tasting component. It’s really not feasible to memorize it all. You need to be able to think critically, make connections and extrapolate from what you do know.

But for Level 2, scope is on your side. Stay focused and learn the whole book. It’s do-able.

Tip #2. Consider Enrolling In Level 1

WSET Level 1 is an optional prerequisite for Level 2 candidates. It’s a one-day general wine knowledge course with a pretty easy exam at the end. You can take it before Level 2, or you can skip over it. We took a poll in my Level 2 classroom and the distribution was about 50-50 (people who took Level 1 versus those who had skipped it).

I opted to skip it. I have to budget my wine spending, and I felt that it’s kind of expensive for a one-day class. I also felt that I had enough general knowledge and good study habits to do well at Level 2 without it.

However, the consensus among people in my class who did take Level 1 was that it’s a fun and positive learning experience. If you’re totally new to wine, Level 1 provides a solid foundation to begin your studies. It’s also recommended for people who are not so great at tests and want to build confidence before embarking on the challenge of Level 2.

Tip #3: Consult the Learning Objectives

WSET publishes a list of the learning objectives (the Specification) for each of their Wine, Beer, and Spirits courses. That’s right–they’re essentially telling you what’s going to be on the test ahead of time. Download this document, print it out, and refer to it often. It’s so helpful for preparing for the exam, it almost feels like cheating. (But it’s completely allowed!)

Don’t forget to set your own goals for the exam. On WSET Level 2, the threshold for a Pass is 55%, Pass with Merit is 70%, and Pass with Distinction is 85%. How much study time you need will depend on how much you already know and what grade you hope to achieve.

Tip #4: Use External Resources Wisely

There’s a ton of beginning to intermediate-level wine education resources out there: Classes, YouTube channels, books, and so on. Much of this content is–dare I say it?–way more entertaining than the WSET course materials.

Should you use supplementary materials when studying for WSET 2? Many people say no. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with wine media. After all, everything you need for the exam is in the textbook, and all the external information could be contradictory or distracting.

On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed having a broader diet of wine books, blogs, podcasts and shows. While studying for Level 2, these resources helped fill in knowledge gaps and make mental connections between the pile of wine facts I was accumulating. A week or so before the exam, I simply pressed “pause” on the wine edutainment and referred back to the course objectives.

I believe some extracurricular wine content is helpful–as long as you’re aware of the scope of WSET Level 2 and keep it in the back of your mind.

Tip #5: Study In Advance

The earlier you can get ahold of the study materials, the better. As I mentioned earlier, the textbook is your friend.

WSET schools send out the textbook and workbook once you’ve registered and paid for the class. Registration usually ends two weeks before the exam date. That means if you sign up at the last minute, you’ll receive the books before class starts–but only barely. If you’re already a wine pro, fine. But if you’re coming in as a rank beginner (like I did) you’ll likely need more than a few days to prepare.

Wines: Looking Beyond the Label is a short book (120 pages), but it’s dense. Don’t make the mistake of cracking it open for the first time on your first day of class. Instead, use the class time for review, asking questions, and shoring up shaky knowledge.

Here’s a useful tip: The Level 2 book, Wines: Looking Beyond the Label is available on WSET’s website for can be ordered from the UK for £35 plus shipping. (The spiral-bound workbook is only available to enrolled students.) The current version of the textbook is sometimes available on the secondary market, but there are not too many copies out there and resale prices are high.

However, WSET published a 2014 version of this title called Wines and Spirits: Looking Behind Label. While a few pieces of information are outdated, this edition is easier to find and very similar in scope and detail to the current textbook.

I recommend snagging a used copy (usually under $10 on Amazon) and thumbing through it before you order your official course materials. That way, you’re study time isn’t constrained by a course schedule. You can safely ignore the last couple of chapters about spirits…with the exception of spirit-fortified wines, there aren’t questions about spirits on the Level 2 Wines exam.

Tip #6: Drink the Wines

The WSET Level 2 curriculum is designed to be paired with tasting samples that dovetail with the textbook. If you take WSET Level 2 in a classroom setting, appropriate wines will be chosen and poured for you in class. My instructor didn’t skimp on the selections. We got to try 40+ wines that were high-quality, illustrative of an important concept, or both.

If you enroll in an online version of the class you’ll be responsible for procuring your own wines. Some WSET schools offer a tasting kit for an additional cost. Depending on where you live, you can pick up the wine kit or have it shipped to you.

My advice? Taste the wine. It’s totally possible to do well on the WSET Level 2 Exam without drinking any wine. But it’s way easier to absorb all the theory if you’re also doing the practice.

For most of us WSET candidates, the pleasure of drinking wine was what got us interested in formal study in the first place. Regular tasting sessions are a great way to keep yourself motivated and provide illuminating examples of wine-making regions and methods.

So enjoy the pours in class! If you’re studying independently, build the wines into your educational budget and drink them with their corresponding chapters. Most will be available in large retail markets. If you have a good local wine shop, tell them you’re doing WSET and they should be able to furnish you with wine styles from the curriculum (or suitable substitutes).

Tip #7: Big Picture First, Then the Details

I’m going to share one study habit from my past that’s been helping me a bunch while I work through WSET. I used to be a graduate student in the humanities and a literature undergrad before that. Completing the assigned reading at a university–forget it, it’s a nightmare.

You might be in 4-5 classes, and every class has an average of 10-15 books assigned, so you have 40-75 books to read every semester in addition to your other assignments. Every professor believes every book they assign is the most important book in the world, and they all write their exams accordingly. Consequently, everything feels equally urgent–until you learn to prioritize.

You cannot read everything. It’s not even possible. For each assigned reading, you have to be strategic. You can decide to take a broad, moderate, or detailed look at it, depending on how many waking hours you have left.

So anyway, WSET. Let’s imagine the worst-case scenario: You have to sit for the Level 2 exam tomorrow, you just received your textbook, and you only have a couple of hours to study as much as you can. In that case, you take the broad approach–details be damned.

The textbook has a table of contents. If you have the earlier edition (the one I talked about in Tip #5) it also contains an index. Read those. Then flip through the book and read the chapter headings and the first paragraph of each chapters. (The part that’s in large font.)

Glance at the diagrams and the maps. If you get an exam question that requires only surface-level knowledge–like say, what country Marlborough is in–it might be enough to squeak by. You won’t get a stellar score this way, but you may be able to eke out a pass.

Now let’s imagine a scenario where you have a little more time (days or weeks). You can take a more moderate approach. Skim everything, but choose a few more sections to read more in-depth.

Maybe you have a pretty good idea of how grapes get turned into alcohol and you’re pretty confident about France. But you don’t know anything about South African or Australian wine. Okay–that’s the beginning of a plan!

Allot your time strategically. Pass quickly through the sections you’re familiar with to brush up on previous knowledge, but spend more time on the areas that are challenging.

Highlight, underline. Hunt for clues about what the textbook authors think is important. Read everything that’s printed in bold. Look up specialized vocabulary words. Spend extra time on sections that are especially detailed (hint: Burgundy) or new and puzzling to you (Germany’s labeling laws, for many people).

Finally, if you have a really long time to study (lucky you), you can afford to read the book a bunch of times. Skim the whole thing quickly to get an overview. Study each section in-depth, preferably across several weeks or months. Return to anything that doesn’t stick. Do another flip-through a day or two before the exam. You got this.

Tip #8: Have a Study Schedule

Most learning experts agree that cramming rarely works. And if it does work, it works in a limited way, helping you pass an exam rather than build long-term knowledge. If your intention is to continue your wine education–not just brain-dump after achieving that Level 2 badge–a better strategy is spaced repetition.

I wrote about my personal WSET study habits in an earlier post. I prepared–perhaps over-prepared–by reading the textbook, making flashcards, and doing structured tastings. I also supplemented my formal study time with other wine-related activities that interest me. At this point, as I prepare for Level 3, I’m doing some kind of wine study or research almost daily.

However, your learning style and the amount of free time you can devote to study might vary. The most important thing–as with many goals–is to be consistent.

For Level 2, WSET recommends 11 hours of independent study in addition to the scheduled classroom time. For most people, that’s a minimum. If you want Merit or Distinction, I would shoot for at least that much preparation divided over at least several weeks.

Try 20 minutes a day (or two hours every weekend) for the six weeks before the exam to get you up to the recommended study time. Leave all your studying until the last minute, and you’ll be a stressed-out student with a brain full of wine-fact mush.

Tip #9: Don’t Neglect France

Now, a few hints about content. Obviously, I can’t say exactly what questions were on my recent exam, but I will make some general observations.

Someone once told me that half of the WSET Level 2 Exam is over France, and that’s barely an exaggeration. If you go on to Level 3, it covers a lot more New World wine regions and international wine-making practices. But Level 2 is all about France, France, France.

Why? It’s because France has been the center of the fine wine world for hundreds of years. WSET wants you to have a good grasp of the country before moving on to all the styles and traditions that have their roots in its wine industry. There will be a whole grab-bag of questions about French wines in your exam book. You can bet on it.

That can present a challenge to those of us whose habits and preferences tend toward New World wine. If you got your early wine education like I did (as a college student, and later as a broke-ass chef), you may not have had the chance to study or taste many French wines. But it’s not too late to make up for lost time. With a little effort–some focused reading and tasting–you can get up to speed.

To have a prayer of passing you need to know at least the grapes of Bordeaux and Burgundy, along with their major wine styles and growing preferences and important appellations. If your heart is set on a good score, also learn everything you can about the Rhône and Loire river valleys. Alsace, Champagne, and southern France are easy extra points because they each only have a page or two in the book.

If you have time left over after cramming France, Italy is probably the next country to prioritize. WSET’s coverage of Italy’s wines is more cursory than France, but Italy has a lot of regions and varied geography. Be sure you know the major areas and climate zones and what they mostly grow/produce.

Tip #10: Don’t Neglect Great Britain, Either

England’s fledgling wine industry isn’t covered in WSET Level 2. But WSET’s world headquarters are in London and a bunch of British people write and edit the wine courses. What does this mean for you, the American or international WSET student?

Well, first of all your textbook will be full of words that are spelled wrong, like “flavour” and “ageing.” But more importantly, you should be aware that the course content (including the exam) is ever-so-slightly tilted toward British tastes.

Some wines that the Brits are simply mad about are just not as commercially relevant in the United States. Examples are Beaujolais Nouveau and Hunter Valley Semillon. (I couldn’t even find the latter wine locally.) We were all betting that there’d be a Hunter Valley Semillon question on the exam, given its prominence in the book–and sure enough, there was.

Conversely, wines that are well-known in the US may not receive the same regard from WSET’s editors. California wines–especially the lower to mid-tier ones–aren’t widely imported into a country awash with good wine from the European continent. The result is that you’ll see a bit less about Napa/Sonoma and other American wines than you might expect.

One other question that exam-takers have is about the metric system. The textbook uses Celsius, kilometers, etc. However, you do not need to know the metric system or do unit conversions for the exam. Temperatures, weights, and distances will be listed in both metric and imperial systems, so you can read them in the format you’re most comfortable with.

Tip #11: Take Advantage of the Classroom Hours

I’m not going to tell you to pay attention in class. If you enroll in WSET classes, you’re an adult and you’re paying a bundle for the privilege, so you go ahead and do you.

I will say that my instructor was phenomenal and my classmates were all very enthusiastic and success-oriented. The stories, tips, and asides that were shared in class helped bring the course material to life.

I don’t have any experience with taking wine classes online. I imagine it takes even more discipline and focus. As a remote student, you can choose to participate actively in homework, remote tastings, and online discussions. All of these are helpful for building knowledge for your exam.

WSET instructors are vetted wine industry pros who are highly qualified. Not only that, they have recent memos from WSET about what kinds of questions have been appearing on tests and what topics trip up the most students.

That intel is golden. A WSET class is the only place (well, aside from maybe Reddit) where you’re going to get current, first-hand information about what to expect from your exam. So when you’re teacher says, “Write this down,” set down that free half-glass of Barolo and write it down.

Tip #12: Spit It Out

All right, now we’re on to the exam day tips. This next advice is obvious–but try not start your exam tipsy.

Spit cups are always available in WSET classes. You should consider using them, especially on exam day. I personally prefer not to spit when I’m tasting just a few wines (unless I have to drive or otherwise be responsible), however…

In my in-person class, we got through 10 wines on exam day. A proper WSET pour is about 50 ml, which is 1/15th of a bottle. That’s 500 ml (or 2/3 of a bottle) going into the tasting glasses less than an hour before the exam timer began.

Also, our class followed the textbook quite closely, and guess what? The last chapter of the Level 2 book happens to be fortified wines. So it turned out 2 or 3 of the wines on the last day were especially high in alcohol. I love Port and Sherry–and they were good ones!–so I had to summon all my discipline to not just drink them dry during the lecture.

Only you know how alcohol affects your memory and cognition. (I find that a tiny buzz can enhance my focus on exams–a side effect, perhaps, of all the Yellow Tail from my college days.) But too much can obviously inhibit your ability to do well on detailed tasks. So indulge with caution.

Tip #13: Mind Your P’s & Q’s in the Exam Room

Whether you’re taking the exam remotely or in-person, avoid all appearance of impropriety (i.e., cheating). WSET is really serious about making sure all their exam results are above-board.

Your proctor (British English: “invigilator”) should help to make sure your testing setup meets all the requirements, but do yourself a favor by reviewing the exam-day rules and following them precisely. I was flustered on exam day (and like I said, there was Sherry) and I almost walked out the door with my question booklet–automatic disqualification!

For those of you taking your Level 2 exam online, there are additional hazards. We’ve heard horror stories about people having their results voided because they got up to let the dog out of the room or forgot to take off their smartwatch.

So be mindful. Go to the bathroom before the exam starts, stow your phone out of reach, and don’t talk to anyone or pass any objects around after the timer begins.

Tip #14: Take Your Time

WSET Level 2 is a multiple-choice exam with 50 questions. WSET gives you a full hour to complete it. That’s more than one minute per question–more than enough time to read the questions thoroughly, write down notes, and review your answers.

Read both the questions and answers before responding. My exam had a couple of “gotcha” questions–where answer “A” looked good, but there was a better answer underneath it.

Finished early? If you read fast and really know your stuff, you can probably complete the exam in 15-20 minutes. As tempting as it is to drop your booklet on the desk and run out of the class like a smarty-pants, don’t. Think about how much wine you could buy with the retake fee.

Go back over your exam and answer sheet once or twice. You’ll avoid making sloppy mistakes. Also, some questions get easier once you’re in a vinous frame of mind. Make changes to your answer only if you have a good reason to–in many cases, your first instinct is the right one.

If you’re taking the test on paper, you’re allowed to write and take notes on the exam booklet. For some test-takers, it’s helpful to write down what they know about a given question before they settle on the best answer.

Tip #15: But Not Too Much Time

Don’t spend too long on any one question. If you feel like more than half a minute has passed, make a note and come back to it. The answer may spontaneously occur to you, or you may read other questions that give you clues about the one you were stuck on.

Don’t leave anything blank. There are no penalties for incorrect answers, so if you’re certain you don’t know, take a stab at it anyway. Better yet, use a good multiple choice strategy to nudge the odds in your direction.

Tip #16: Guess Strategically

The answer format is A, B, C, or D–so statistically speaking, you can get 25% correct just by guessing. That’s almost halfway to the 55% score needed to pass the exam.

My first-grade teacher, Mrs. Capps, once had this to say about a similarly formatted standardized test from elementary school: “There’s four answers. One is the right answer, one is sorta close to the right answer…and then there’s the ding-dong answer that nobody’s supposed to pick.”

Thanks a bunch, Mrs. Capps–that one piece of advice has helped me on so many multiple choice tests over the years.

Many exams are written this way. If you’re stuck on a question, don’t just guess. Find the dumb answer. Then find the smart-answer pair. This process of a elimination can help improve your odds of landing on the correct option.

I’m just going to make up a WSET 2 style question to show you how it works. (The answer is Pinot Noir, but for the sake of argument just pretend you don’t know that.) Okay, here goes:

Which of these black grape varieties is most closely associated with the region of Burgundy?

A. Pinot Noir

B. Merlot

C. Riesling

D. Zinfandel

First, identify the outlier–that is, “the ding-dong answer that nobody’s supposed to pick.” Riesling isn’t even a black grape, as most people know, so you can cross “C” right off.

Now we have three black grapes: Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Zinfandel. We’re looking for two answers that are kind of close. Two answers that are designed to be close enough to confuse an exam taker who has only a passing knowledge of the topic.

You may remember (from your own college days, perhaps) that Zinfandel is associated with inexpensive wine from California. And Merlot and Pinot Noir both have silent “t”s and sound kind of French. Hey, Burgundy is in France, right? Those two answers are a pair, and one of them is likely to be correct.

Cross off Zinfandel. Now you have to guess between Merlot and Pinot Noir. But without remembering anything from your textbook, you’ve increased your odds of scoring on this question from 25% to 50%.

Imagine you could do that with every question on the test. You’d be averaging 50% correct. That would put you within striking distance–5%, or three questions–of passing. Fortunately, there will almost certainly be some questions that you do know the answers to, so you only need this strategy for the real stumpers.

Tip #17: Celebrate Your Results

It’s hard not to go crazy waiting for your results. They come from the London office–and for in-person students, there’s snail mail involved.

I was told my results could take up to four weeks, but they arrived via email in just over 10 days. My heart was racing as I opened the attachment. I knew I had missed one question, but I was hoping for no more errors than that. And sure enough–98%, Passed with Distinction!

I was hoping to get the blue WSET lapel pin to show off to friends. I don’t care how pretentious it is, I wanted one! But they phased it out in my area just one month before my class date. Bummer. Instead I got this “digital badge” to add to my website and business cards:

I also received a digital certificate (including a high-res printable file) and a congratulatory email from WSET and from my instructor. I’m going to celebrate at the wine bar this week with a nice bottle of Champagne…or probably Cava if I’m being totally honest.

When you pass Level 2, don’t forget to celebrate in a way that’s exciting to you. You’ve invested in your wine knowledge and passed an exam that the vast majority of wine drinkers would find quite difficult. If you plan to continue to Level 3, you’re well on your way–congrats!

Previous WSET Level 2 posts on The Wine Fairy:

WSET Level 2 Class: Week 1 Thoughts

WSET Level 2 Class: Week 2 Thoughts

My experience preparing for WSET Level 2

Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.