Should I Pursue A MW? What Do You Think Of The WSET SAT?

by odd coincidence, i have lately received many requests for advice about the master of wine program and in the same email, asking for my thoughts on the wset systematic approach to tasting.  kind people who found my contact details through this blog, facebook, or my tweets.  each one is a passionate wine lover who wants to pursue their studies in the field of wine.  each have pretty much done the same as i did: wset levels 2, 3 and 4.  each now working in a field unrelated to wine, but each have some part-time connections to the industry, either as wine judges or freelance journalists, or other.

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Why Talk About Wine In Absolute? Why Not Consider The Occasion?

Why do many wine lovers past a certain level of knowledge seem to insist on talking about wine in absolute? This wine is good, that one is bad.  "Industrial" wines are bad, "natural" wines are good. This one is 91 points, that one 89 points... Do these wine lovers rate their sex lives in the same way?

To me, wine is made to give pleasure. Full stop.

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There Is A Gooseberry In My Wine...

In most of my wine workshops, without a fail, someone will risk to ask: how do they get that gooseberry aroma in the wine? By adding flavouring?

This might seem like a strange question to a wine snob, but it is in fact a very important question and I always delight when i get such questions in a class.

To answer this, I have a funny story that happened to me a while back.

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