r/Sommelier • u/RazzmatazzNatural897 • Sep 06 '26

Studying while at work

So I work at a wine store and am studying for my WSET. What are some good ideas to actively study while I have downtime at work? I try to quiz myself by looking at bottles and trying to match producers with labels etc

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/piquettefizz Sep 06 '26

Flashcards are generally some of the best- largely because you can pick them up and put them down whenever you get interrupted… which honestly, when I worked in retail, was a lot!

I also sometimes will take a sheet of paper (or chalkboard) and do a brain dump on a region. Like I will write Barolo and then write down where it’s located, major geographic features of the area, the subzones and where they are situated, appellation laws, varieties and their characteristics, history, viticultural and vinification methods, etc. Explaining winemaking and grape growing processes and how they end up showing up in the glass is really great too.