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WSET Diploma Theory—Burgundy Chardonnay

On Wednesday I proposed that the tasting portion of the WSET D3 exam is still a theory exam. I threw a couple of made-up theory questions based on your dry tasting notes (my experiential tasting notes) to put that into practice. (Read WSET Diploma Tasting—Burgundy’s Chardonnay Spectrum for the original inquiry and my full tasting notes.)

I got some great feedback on how to tackle those questions. Based on my notes and yours, I’ve put together some bullet points on what to cover in the theory portion. If you have additional thoughts or notes you want to add to this post—you know how to reach me. Cheers

Beaune Tourism Burgundy Wine Map | The Official Beaune Travel Guide | beaune-tourism.com
Beaune Tourism
Burgundy Wine Map | The Official Beaune Travel Guide | beaune-tourism.com

PS: For more Burgundy info, read Wine Regions of Burgundy and a Wine Review and The Australian Alternative to French Favorites based on my studies for the Level 3 exam.

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WSET Diploma Tasting—Burgundy’s Chardonnay Spectrum

Nervous about your WSET Diploma D3 tasting exam? Yeah, me too. Kind of. The best advice I can give is to remember that the tasting portion of the exam is exactly like the theory part of the exam—but instead of written prompts, they’re presenting you with wines.

If you’ve made it to the Diploma level of the WSET, that means you have a pretty strong palate and have practiced writing tasting notes utilizing the SAT grid already. So trust yourself, trust your notes, and use what you see, smell, taste, and have written down to answer the proposed question(s).

Easier said than done. But let’s put this into practice using one of the very first regions you study in D3—Burgundy. You don’t have to taste along—instead, I encourage you to write a few dry tasting notes (following the grid and SAT format) for the wines listed. Then, take a look at the theory questions I’ve created and see if you can answer those based on both your knowledge of the region(s) and using your tasting notes as evidence to back up your answer.

At the very end, I’ve listed my tasting notes and conclusions about the wines (which I did, indeed, taste). And if you feel so inclined, post a few bullet points about how you’d answer these theory questions. The more we interact the more we remember.

Have fun!

visitfrenchwine.com
visitfrenchwine.com

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Wine Regions of Burgundy and a Wine Review

In a previous post, I explored potential Australian alternatives to Burgundian Chardonnay. This was in response to part one of a WSET Level 3 practice question. Before I move on to part two, which (spoiler alert) takes a deep dive into the wines of Bordeaux, I want to finish up my tour of Burgundy with a quick look at the regions not discussed in that prior post.

Map of Burgundy; Courtesy Fernando Beteta

[Information based on WSET Level 3 material]

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Book Review – Burgundy: Twisted Roots by Janet Hubbard

Who doesn’t love a good barrel sample or futures tasting? How about when a winemaker kindly sends you a “pre-release” of his latest bottle? Well today we get a little pre-taste of Janet Hubbard’s 3rd installment in the Vengeance in the Vineyard series, which isn’t scheduled to publish until September or October of this year. Ms. Hubbard was gracious enough to send me a hard copy of her proof and — Spoiler Alert! — I think Burgundy: Twisted Roots is the best of the bunch.

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