Wine & Spirit Education Trust

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust, often referred to as WSET, is a British organisation which arranges courses and exams in the field of wine and spirits. WSET was founded in 1969,cite web|last= Ray |first= Johnathan, "The Daily Telegraph" |title= The top wine-tasting courses |url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2008/08/29/wine-jonathan-ray129.xml|date= August 29, 2008 ] is headquartered in London [wset.co.uk [http://www.wset.co.uk/about_us/default.asp WSET: About us] , accessed on February 4, 2008] and is generally regarded as the world's leading provider of wine education. [J. Robinson (ed), "The Oxford Companion to Wine", Third Edition, p. 769, Oxford University Press 2006, ISBN 0198609906] The courses given by WSET were originally intended for people who have wine and spirits as their profession, especially those involved in trade of wine and spirits, but are increasingly attended also by non-professional connoisseurs.

Course levels

The course content of WSET courses has its focus on general theoretical knowledge of the world of wine and spirits (countries and regions of production, regulations, their style of wine and spirits, grape varieties &c.), and practical identification of beverages and their flavours, including wine tasting techniques.

As of 2008, the levels of courses were as following, using the levels of the National Qualifications Framework of UK: [wset.co.uk [http://www.wset.co.uk/qualifications/344.asp An Introduction to WSET Qualifications] , accessed on February 4, 2008]

* Level 1
** "Foundation Certificate in Wines", an introductory course for persons working in either hospitality or retail.
* Level 2
** "Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits", a broad course of the wine and spirits area.
** "Professional Certificate in Spirits", a more in-depth course covering only spirits.
* Level 3
** "Advanced Certificate in Wines and Spirits", a more in-depth course than the Intermediate Certificate, with an increased focus on wine tasting techniques
** "International Higher Certificate in Wines and Spirits", a corresponding qualification given internationally in several different languages.
* Level 4
** "Diploma in Wines and Spirits", the highest course level at WSET, intended to give specialist knowledge.
* Level 5
** "Honours Diploma", an individual research/thesis project which supplements the Level 4 Diploma.

WSET's courses are also given by a large number of so-called "Approved Programme Providers" around the world. This has made WSET's course levels the international "de facto" standard for "practical" knowledge of wine and spirits, outside academic programmes of oenology, viticulture, food technology and similar subjects, where science and engineering aspects of beverage production tend to be in focus.

WSET has created a membership body for WSET Diploma holders called "Institute of Wines & Spirits". Qualification at the WSET Diploma level 4 is generally required to be allowed into the Master of Wine training, [ [http://www.masters-of-wine.org/EduIntro.aspx Institute of Masters of Wine: The Education Programme] , accessed on February 4, 2008] which is arranged by a body (The Institute of Masters of Wine) separate from the WSET.

References

External links

* [http://www.wsetglobal.com/ Wine & Spirit Education Trust official site]