Doing the WSET Level 1 Award in Wine in Melbourne

So you love wine, or perhaps are starting out with work in the field, and want to develop your knowledge. Great news: with a short course and a quick exam, you can get certified as an official wine nerd! (Disclaimer: the word nerd will not in fact be on your certificate.) The WSET Wine Awards are a series of globally-recognised qualifications catering for everyone from amateurs to experts. Both Level 1 and Level 2 are open to beginners – which leads to the question of where you should start. In this post, you’ll find out the differences between WSET Level 1 and 2 and what you should consider when choosing which WSET wine course to start with. I’ll also share my experience doing WSET Level 1 in Melbourne.

What are WSET Wine Awards?

WSET, or the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, is a leading global body for qualifications in wine, spirits, sake and (most recently) beer. It was established in the UK, but their courses and exams are now delivered around the world by approved partners.

WSET wine qualifications are internationally recognised within the hospitality industry. But they’re not only obtained by professionals – many wine enthusiasts enrol too. There are four levels catering to everyone from beginners to experts:

• The WSET Level 1 Award in Wines is a beginner-level introductory course suited to wine lovers or people getting started in a wine career. It can be completed in just a day.
• The WSET Level 2 Award in Wines is open to beginners and intermediate. If you’re more serious about developing your wine knowledge, you can jump straight into this level. As a 3-day (or equivalent) course, it’s a bit more of a commitment.
• The WSET Level 3 Award in Wines is an advanced qualification most popular among professionals. It involves 30 hours of classroom time plus more self-study.
• The WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines is a notoriously challenging, expert-level qualification broken into several units with theory and tasting exams and a research project. It’s typically studied over 1.5 to 3 years. This one’s for those dedicating a good chunk of their lives to wine!

If you’re a keen wine drinker looking to develop some knowledge so you can get to know your own tastes and buy wine with confidence, WSET’s beginner-friendly courses would be ideal. But should you start with WSET Level 1 or 2?

Is WSET Level 1 worth doing?

You don’t have to complete lower level WSET qualifications before enrolling in higher ones. This leads many people to wonder if the WSET Level 1 Award in Wine is worth doing, or if you should skip straight to WSET Level 2 if you already have some wine knowledge. I did a lot of research on this myself before enrolling!

Ultimately, I decided to try out WSET Level 1 first and I really enjoyed the course as a way to solidify my wine knowledge and build confidence. I’d recommend taking WSET Level 1 if you’re not sure about investing the time and money into Level 2 yet. But there are lots of factors to consider when deciding whether WSET Level 1 is worth it for you. I’ll break them down in this post.

What’s the difference between WSET Level 1 and 2?

WSET Level 1 introduces some key concepts for wine appreciation, while Level 2 builds and expands on them, giving you a broader and deeper knowledge of wine. 

Here are some differences to consider when choosing between WSET Level 1 and 2:

• Time commitment: WSET Level 1 is typically a 1-day course (or equivalent split over multiple sessions), while WSET Level 2 takes 3 full days or equivalent (often delivered as a 3-day mid-week intensive, 3 days over 3 weekends, or a series of evening classes).
• Cost: In 2025, WSET Level 1 in Melbourne typically costs about $300 to $400 while Level 2 is around $900 to $1000. Online courses tend to be a bit cheaper than in-person versions.
• Content: Level 1 covers some key concepts at a basic level, while the longer Level 2 course has correspondingly more content and will likely require you to put extra time into learning. In both, you’ll cover the eight most common wine grapes – but in Level 1, you’ll look at only a handful of wine styles, while in Level 2 you’ll become familiar with dozens of geographical indications using those grapes. Level 2 also covers a couple of dozen regionally important wine grapes.
• Knowledge required: WSET Level 1 and 2 are both open to beginners – but Level 2 requires significantly more learning, which will be easier if you’re starting from some level of knowledge. If you consider yourself intermediate or an enthusiastic amateur, Level 2 might be more your vibe.

Do you need any wine knowledge or wine tasting experience to do WSET Level 1?

Officially, you don’t need any prior knowledge of wine before taking the Level 1 course. BUT, there is quite a bit of content to take in before completing the exam – and if you are doing it in a 1-day course, it may be a challenge to memorise all the information before taking the exam in the afternoon. I think I would have struggled to absorb everything from the 33-page workbook if it was unfamiliar to me! 

You could treat the WSET Level 1 course as a complete introduction to wine. Or, you might like to start familiarising yourself with the key concepts by browsing a few books about wine, watching online videos, listening to podcasts and attending wine tasting sessions before you put yourself to the test by enrolling in WSET Level 1. 

Should you do WSET Level 1 or 2 in wine?

So, where’s the best place to start? It really depends on what you’re hoping to get out of it.

No matter whether you’re interested in it for your professional development or personal interest, the WSET courses can be a considerable investment. You may prefer to try out Level 1 before committing to the higher cost for Level 2. Conversely, if you’re confident you want to do Level 2 at some point anyway, then it may make more sense to put your money straight towards that.

I had been seriously interested in wine for about 4 years, attended many tasting events and had a solid collection of wine books (that I’d actually read) before taking the WSET Level 1 exam. I was familiar with the key characteristics of wines like aromas, acid and tannins, and could give a simple description of the difference between key varietals (like sauvignon blanc vs chardonnay, or pinot noir vs shiraz) using some of those terms.

Coming from that base, a lot of the content covered in the WSET Level 1 course was familiar to me. The workbook and teaching helped solidify my understanding without me needing to do too much memorisation.

Ultimately, I got a perfect score on the exam. I could easily have taken the Level 2 course without doing Level 1 first. But I was happy with what I got out of the Level 1 course – a taste of how WSET works without the significant commitment of time and money that Level 2 requires. And I enjoyed it enough that taking Level 2 is a definite future goal!

WSET Level 1 in Melbourne

There are a handful of businesses offering WSET Level 1 in Melbourne and Victoria.

I enrolled in the course through Melbourne Wine School. They deliver WSET Level 1 about once a month as a 1-day weekend session. These are great for wine lovers who relish the idea of spending a day off studying and taking an exam. That is, nerds like me. (Well, when ‘studying’ involves talking about and tasting wine, it’s actually quite appealing…) Their courses are now held in Richmond, a short walk from the train station.

Other WSET Level 1 providers in Melbourne include Wine House in Southbank and William Angliss Institute in the CBD. If attending an in-person course doesn’t suit, you can also find many providers that deliver it online.

What to expect on your WSET Level 1 course

The WSET Level 1 course covers:

• The key parts of grapes and the grape growing cycle, and the impact of climate
• The basic process of alcoholic fermentation and making white, rosé and red wines
• Characteristics of wines made from some of the most common grape varieties (four white and four red)
• How to describe the colour, structural characteristics and main aromas and flavours of a wine using the WSET Systematic Approach for Tasting Wines
• Guidelines for storing and serving wine, including basic food pairing principles

In my 1-day course running from 9am to 5pm, the schedule looked like this:

• Intros and basic theory content 
• Morning tea break 
• First round of wine tasting using the WSET method to describe the appearance, nose and palate
• Lunch break (with time for us to go to nearby cafes)
• Second round of wine tasting
• Food pairing experiment to see how different flavours (like salty, sweet and umami) work with different wines
• Practice exam
• Short break to revise
• Real exam

The exam is delivered under formal conditions: you’ll need to provide ID for your examiner to verify, and it’s closed-book – you can’t refer to resources like your notes, course book, or the internet. It’s a theory test only (there’s no tasting in the exam at this level), with 30 multiple choice questions. You have 45 minutes to complete it, but I found it took much less time.

Other ways to learn about wine

If investing in a wine qualification like WSET isn’t for you right now, you can still learn a heap about wine on your own! Attend wine tasting classes or events, collect some books about wine, listen to wine podcasts, travel to places like Victoria’s wine regions and just pay attention to what you’re drinking at home. Your ability to identify the characteristics of what’s in your glass and understand how they may have come about will grow rapidly – as will your confidence in picking something you’ll enjoy at a bar, restaurant or bottle shop. Wine education is a choose-your-own adventure – and exams are an optional extra 😉