WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines course

• The WSET Diploma in Wines provides you with specialist-level skills, knowledge and recognition as an expert in the field of wines. The course will hone your research and analysis abilities and deepen your understanding of viticulture and winemaking through to wine business and in-depth product knowledge.

All WSET Diploma classes with Enjoy Discovering Wine are hosted by highly acclaimed wine educators, including award-winning educator, Erica Dent, founder of Enjoy Discovering Wine and Jim Gore of The Global Wine Academy. You will learn alongside and work with like-minded individuals, with theory underpinned by tutored tastings of an extensive variety of still, sparkling and fortified wines.

Upon successful completion, you will gain the distinction of the ‘DipWSET’ postnominal, making you one of just over 10,000 individuals around the world who have gained this prestigious qualification.

Your expertise will be built both theoretically, through study of many wine regions, and practically, by developing your wine tasting skills to an expert level. Should you wish to progress to the Master of Wine programme, no other course will prepare to a higher standard.

Beyond the Diploma: WSET Alumni Body

Upon successful completion of the Diploma, you will join a global community known as the WSET Alumni Body. This will offer you fantastic opportunities for continued learning, including a regular tasting, networking and career events and access to market reports. You’ll join ranks with many of the wine world’s most well-respected figures and build long-lasting relationships with your fellow Diploma alumni.

For full details on the course, please read the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines Specification Document.

How the course is structured

The WSET Level 4 Diploma consists of six essential units of study, each one is designed to build expertise in a specific area.  Each unit is weighted and requires various amounts of guided and private study time.

D1 – Wine Production (20% weighting)

• Vine requirements
• Anatomy of the vine and grape
• Grape growing options, explaining and evaluating the different approaches and how these options affect grape yields, quality and the final wine produced
• Natural factors in the vineyard and how they influence the vine’s ability to produce grapes for wines of different styles, quality levels and price
• Winemaking and post-fermentation options and how they influence the style, quality and price of wines

D2 – Wine business (10% weighting)

• The types of businesses engaged in wine production and the options for getting wine to the point of sale
• Factors that contribute to the price of wine
• Key considerations in wine marketing

D3 – Wines of the world (50% weighting)

D4 – Sparkling wines (5% weighting)

D5 – Fortified wines (5% weighting)

In each of these Units you will learn:

• How grape-growing, winemaking, maturation, wine law and wine business influence the style, quality and price of the principal still wines (D3), sparkling wines (D4) and fortified wines (D5) of the world.

• How to taste and evaluate still wines (D3), sparkling wines (D4) and fortified wines (D5) using the WSET Level 4 Systematic Approach to Tasting Wine®(SAT)

D6 – Independent research assignment (10% weighting)

• How to research a specified wine-related subject

How the course is assessed.

To complete the WSET Level 4 Diploma you must pass all six units, successfully meeting the rigorous assessment requirements across the syllabus. Assessment varies by unit:

D1 – Wine production

• A 1½ hour closed-book examination made up of open-response questions

D2 – Wine business

• A 1 hour closed-book examination made up of open-response questions

D3 – Wines of the world

• A theory and tasting examination to be held over two consecutive days:

Day one – A two-part theory exam formed of open-response questions to be completed in 3 hours 20 minutes (one 2-hour paper and one 80-minute paper).

Day two – A two-part blind tasting examination of 12 wines to be completed in 3 hours (two papers of 1½ hours)

D4 – Sparkling wines

• A 1½ hour closed-book examination made up of open-response questions and a blind tasting of three sparkling wines

D5 – Fortified wines

• A 1½ hour closed-book examination made up of open-response questions and a blind tasting of three fortified wines

D6 – Independent research assignment

• One research assignment of 3,000 words. This is designed to assess your ability to research beyond the WSET learning materials provided and evaluate current trends in wine.

For full details on examination formats and requirements please see the full WSET Level 4 Specification Document.

Age Restrictions

Delegates must be over eighteen years of age for all courses and events.

Booking Conditions for Places on Public Courses

1. Course bookings may be made on this website with payment by credit / debit card or by invoice, with full or part payment by Enjoy Discovering Wine online gift vouchers.
2. Invoices in respect of places on public courses and events are due for immediate payment.
3. We do not accept provisional bookings and places will only be confirmed once payment is received.
4. No materials will be dispatched until course fees are paid.
5. Cancellations of confirmed places are accepted up to 10 working days (20 working days for Diploma) prior to the start of the course. An administration fee of £43.50 plus the full cost of the study materials supplied will be deducted and the remainder of the course fee refunded to the payee.
6. Transfers of a confirmed booking either to another course or applicant can be made up to 10 working days (20 working days for Diploma) before the course start date on payment of a £43.50 admin fee plus the cost of any additional study materials which may be applicable. Alternative course must start within one calendar year of the course originally booked and all transfers are subject to availability on alternative course / examination dates.
7. If a confirmed course booking is cancelled by the student during the 10 working days (20 working days for Diploma) prior to the start of the course, or at any time after the start of the course, no refund or transfer of the course fees will be made, although we would appreciate notification if you know in advance that you will be unable to attend.
8. Course fees will be refunded in full if Enjoy Discovering Wine changes a course date or cancels a course if enrolments do not reach the required minimum numbers – notification will be made in the 10 working days prior to the planned start date of the course.
9. Course / event bookings are not complete until Course Registration has been completed by the student.

Course / Event Registration

1. Course / event bookings are not complete until Course Registration has been completed by the student or person attending (delegate). As part of the registration process, delegates are confirming that they have read and understand all of the relevant booking conditions.
2. Individual delegates, or the organiser for in-house / private events, should notify Enjoy Discovering Wine (admin@enjoydiscoveringwine.com) if anyone who has registered is no longer intending to participate in the course / event for which they have registered.
3. The organiser of in-house / private events, is responsible for ensuring that all delegates complete registration prior to the (first) date of the event, and at least 10 days in advance where a course includes an examination.
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Gift Vouchers

1. Online gift vouchers purchased on this website are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.
2. Online gift vouchers may be used as full or part payment towards any course / event available for booking on this website on the date of booking.
3. Online gift vouchers may be used as full or part payment towards Private Tastings or Events, or for In-House Training. The gift voucher recipient will need to forward the original voucher email to Enjoy Discovering Wine (admin@enjoydiscoveringwine.com) who will then cancel the voucher and subtract any remaining amount from the invoice due.
4. Any balance of online gift vouchers will remain as a gift voucher and cannot be exchanged for cash. The expiry date on the balance is the original expiry date of the voucher.
5. Anyone with a paper gift voucher still within its validity period should contact Enjoy Discovering Wine (admin@enjoydiscoveringwine.com) to have the voucher replaced with an online gift voucher to the same balance and with the same expiry date.

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