The Wine Fairy

Back at school for more wine study! I’ve just wrapped up my second weekend of classes at Dallas Wine Education Center, where I am a candidate for the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 3 Award in Wines.

It’s been a very vinous few weeks for The Wine Fairy. In between WSET classes on Saturday and Sunday, I’ve been running around to weeknight vendor events, doing tasting practice at bars, reviewing bottles for the blog, and trying my darndest to keep up with local winery happenings. (Because, oh yeah–October is also Texas Wine Month and the peak of fair/festival season in the sunny south.)

So, the wine is flowing rapidly and so is the information. My four-week Level 3 class is blowing past me with the speed and intensity of a tornado, and I’m really relieved that I came in (mostly) prepared.

It’s fast-moving. It’s detailed. After reviewing the chapters on viticulture and climate the first week of class, this week is all about France and Spain. (That’s right–we’re going to cover all the most important wines of continental Europe in just under eight hours.)

Each day begins at 10 AM, the mid-morning sun casting golden shadows around the windowed classroom. Class starts with a slideshow presentation from our instructor (Travis Perez, DipWSET) that closely follows the textbook. From there, we taste.

It will surprise no one that this is my favorite part of class: Tasting and discussing the wines! There is so much to learn from doing structured tastings with your instructor and fellow students. We are tasting most of the wines blind–which is challenging and humbling, but I love it. It really forces you to get your nose in the glass, think critically, and not be swayed by what you know about a wine’s price, producer, grape, or region.

If you’re thinking about taking WSET Level 3–or Level 2, for that matter–I highly recommend opting for the classroom experience if your circumstances allow. It’s more fun (and easier) than solo and online study.

Instructors are able to source wines that are in the textbook but unavailable in most retail markets. (For example, we tasted a Tokaji Aszú in the first classroom session. Even in wine-soaked DFW, I only know of two places that sell Tokaji by the bottle and zero which are pouring it by the glass.) The more tedious parts of the course–the maps, the vineyard tech–they are all so much easier to digest when you wash them down with a sip of the relevant wine.

In-person tasting is also invaluable for exam prep, because it compels you to confront styles of wine that you might be tempted to shy away from. (Or in my case, cheap out on.) Many wine drinkers tend to fall back on their favorites and don’t always have a chance to get acquainted with all the other regions and methods.

But any typical style of red or white wine could theoretically show up on the Level 3 tasting exam. You really don’t want to have to write a detailed tasting note for a totally unfamiliar wine–it’s better if it’s something you’ve seen at least once before.

I’ll be finishing the second half of my WSET 3 course later this month. (There’s no class this Saturday or Sunday–it’s the big Texas-Oklahoma rivalry football game and no one travels to downtown Dallas on that weekend unless they are certifiably insane.) Thank you to those folks who are following and supporting my wine journey, and I’ll keep you posted! ❤️

Wines tasted:

Simonnet-Febvre Chablis (2023) – Burgundy, France

Philippe le Hardi Meursault (2020) – Burgundy, France

Claude Riffault “Les Boucauds” Sancerre (2023) – Loire Valley, France

Marc Brédif “Classic” Vouvray (2023) – Loire Valley, France

Château Guiraud Sauternes (2009) – Bordeaux, France

Ducourt Château Larroque Bordeaux Supérieur (2016) – Bordeaux, France

Château Haut-Brisson Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2020) – Bordeaux, France

(I called the heck out of this Saint-Émilion in the blind tasting…all those #MerlotThursday Right Bank wines are finally sinking in. 💪)

Château Roquegrave Cru Bourgeois Médoc (2018) – Bordeaux, France

Château Clarke Listrac-Médoc (2015) – Bordeaux, France

Albert Bichot “Origines” Bourgogne Rouge (2022) – Burgundy, France

Vincent Girardin Pommard (2018) – Burgundy, France

Domaine Gregoire Hoppenot “Corcelette” Morgon (2022) – Beaujolais, France

Vidal-Fleury Crozes-Hermitage (2021) – Northern Rhône, France

Domaine des Senechaux Châteauneuf-du-Pape (2021) – Southern Rhône, France

Mas Doix “Les Crestes” Priorat (2021) – Catalunya, Spain

Vionta Albariño Rías Baixas (2023) – Galicia, Spain

️I’ve written a whole bunch more about my WSET Level 2 and Level 3 experiences. You can view previous WSET-related posts here.

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.