As I mentioned last week, I started the WSET Level 3 course. Many of the suppositions I made about the program were correct.

1. I am one of the older (although not the oldest) person in the class. It doesn’t bother me. I assumed many of the students would be younger.
2. Many of the students work in the food and beverage industry. That’s a no brainer. As a food blogger, I’m on the very fringe of that industry, which is fine with me.
3. There is a lot to learn. The instructor verified that. It’s much like taking a college course; you’ll spend 2-3 times the amount of class time studying at home.
4. There will be a good amount of wine sampling. On the first night we sampled 4 wines. In the next few weeks, we will move to 6 wines per class.

There also were things that I didn’t know.

1. The tasting isn’t the hardest part of the exam. The instructor had numerous tips to help with it and will continue to share them during the course.
2. There’s no need to bring a laptop. I bring my laptop to 95% of my meetings, so I can take notes. When you’re sitting at a table with an assortment of glasses, crackers, and pitchers, there’s no room for a laptop.

Finally, there were things that I didn’t consider.

1. Although we sampled 4 glasses of wine, we drank none. In fact, after we took our first sip, he recommended that everyone spit. Ah, yes, the paper cup wasn’t for water; it was our personal spittoon.
2. Sampling a number of wines is tiring for your palate. Although I drank none of the wine, my mouth definitely felt like I had consumed a lot of wine. I honestly had zero interest in actual glass of wine when I got home.

One week down, fifteen weeks to go. I have a lot of studying to do in that timeframe. And I have to say, I’m pretty excited about it.