Written by WSET Diploma graduate and wine writer Kelly Liang, this blog explores the social side of the WSET Diploma - from tasting groups to international online study groups. Featuring stories from current students and alumni, it shows how peer support helps not only with studying, but also with building lasting connections across the wine world.
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The WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines brings with it many opportunities. After all, the Diploma is one of the highest degrees in wine, with just over 25,000 graduates worldwide since its inception.
To join this exclusive community, students must go through a two-year plus assessment process to qualify in theory and tasting. With an average pass rate just over 55% for certain units, many students have come up with creative ways to support each other.
“I set off on my Diploma journey to obtain one of the top distinctions in wine knowledge,” winemaker Marta Casas of the Cava powerhouse Pares Balta reminisces, “I ended up making great friends and professional connections – a network that extends beyond classrooms, wineries and trade shows.”
Camaraderie forged through studying
Students like Marta can take Diploma classes in person on a weekly basis or in a concentrated block. Alternatively, students can choose to study online at their own pace.
Taking classes face-to-face gives students more opportunity to engage with instructors and fellow students, both inside and outside of the immediate classroom. Often, it’s connections with the latter that define one’s Diploma experience.
Eva Holeckova, an advisor at a London wine shop, has many fond memories of her Diploma journey. A particular highlight was a sparkling wine tasting session organised with her class. “One of my classmates worked at Champagne Pommery and kindly offered the board room for 10-12 of us to prepare for our exams. Everyone brought a few bottles.”
One of the study bottles was a Pierre Mignon from the 1990s, with the former French president Jacques Chirac's face on the label. Whilst beautifully aged, the effervescence of this vintage Champagne had dissipated with time.
“We came up with a creative solution,” grinned Eva, “One of us happened to have brought a more recent vintage of Pierre Mignon. So we mixed a bit of the younger vintage into the old 'Jacques Chirac’ Champagne. It was magical. We named it the 'Boardroom Blend.’”
A bustling online community
For those who don’t have the luxury of meeting and studying in person, there are a host of groups to join online. The best-known online community is perhaps the WSET Diploma in Wines Worldwide Study Group on Facebook. It’s a bustling forum for over 2,400 Diploma students, alumni and prospects around the world.
Berlin-based biopharma consultant and certified WSET educator, Alex Tsui explained how he became the administrator of the Facebook group: “As I was finishing my Diploma exam preparation, I envisaged the group to be a platform where students could share useful resources with one another. I certainly didn’t want the resources that I put together to go to waste after taking the exams. In October 2022, I took over the reins and introduced more structure to the group.”
A key member of the Diploma Facebook group was Joana Mesquita, a Portuguese wine consultant with 20 years of experience in the cork industry: “In 2022, a member of the Facebook group suggested that we meet online to revise. The first session had about 10 students. The idea was to have different members present each week. The best way of studying is to teach.”
Three years later and long after Joana became a DipWSET, she still spends up to six hours a week keeping this study group going. Between 25-35 students from Europe, Asia and the Americas show up on Teams every Sunday afternoon to revise and share their struggles.
“Everyone brings something different to the table,” Joana explains. “Some may know a region really well. Some have decades working in wine logistics. Others might know how to study effectively! The group is like a blend of different varieties, vinified and bottled in my home region, the Douro Valley.”
A group of Diploma graduates at 2024's reception.
Turning academic excellence into career gains
Studying for the Diploma is challenging, even for experienced academics like Mike Bennett. Now retired after having published over 300 peer-reviewed articles in palliative medicine, Mike experienced a different type of learning with the Diploma.
Mike originally undertook the Diploma to further his wine knowledge and prove that he was an expert: “What I'm most proud of is that I had to learn how to study and write essays again. I had to get my head around the business aspects of the wine industry. They were new to me as I came from a medical background.”
Through disciplined revision, Mike achieved Merits and Distinctions for his coursework while motivating his classmates on their WhatsApp group.
A member of Mike’s WhatsApp group was Nicolas Greinacher, a long-term fine wine collector from Switzerland. There were many small moments throughout the Diploma that Nicolas vividly remembers: the beautifully toasty, low-alcohol, aged Hunter Valley Semillon; trying to concentrate on Michelle Cherutti-Kowal MW’s detailed lecture that extended well into the lunch hour; the banter with fellow wine-loving, like-minded classmates.
Inspired by the colourful cast of wine professionals he met during his Diploma journey, Nicolas decided to pursue a larger platform to share his knowledge with the trade. He now reviews Rhône and Jura for the prominent wine publication Vinous.
Lifelong connections
Joined by regular group work and shared goals, some of the connections Diploma alumni forged have thrived long after the course finished.
Joana is confident that if students in the group reach out, they will find unconditional support around the world from the 300-strong alumni who have participated in her Sunday online study group: “There are people that I consider friends. The Facebook group’s admin Alex has visited me in Portugal and dined with my family in our home. At this year’s Prowein, many Diploma friends came to see me at my stand. Alex was one of them.”
"Looking back, I couldn’t have completed the Diploma without the help from my immediate study group and online communities,” reflects Marta from her biodynamic vineyards in Penedes.
She celebrated the end of her Diploma classes in Florence, surrounded by beautiful wines and 24 Diploma classmates from all over the world, including the Netherlands, Canada and Poland. “It’s been a long time since I was in university. I never imagined that 20 years later I would find such an overwhelming level of care, support and good vibes.”
Marta’s takeaway from the Diploma perhaps summarises a sentiment shared by many Diploma graduates: “The wine knowledge I gained was my starting goal, but the friendships I developed along the way became my greatest reward. It's a gift for life."
A Diploma graduate, Kelly Liang works as the Head of Marketing at a Manchester-based SaaS startup. During her spare time, she writes a daily newsletter that helps 1,400 Diploma students and prospects better prepare for their D3 exams with the advent of AI.
