Page 29 - Sphere No.22 (Aug 2008)

HOW TO BECOME A WINE EXPERT
WHEN theWine and Spirit EducationTrust (WSET)
was established in 1969 its courses were formu-
lated to train people working or intending to
work in the wine industry.As interest in wine has increased
worldwide, however, more and more people from outside
the trade have opted to study the subject formally. Today,
WSET runs wine education courses, spirits courses and wine
tastings in 42 countries worldwide.
In England it has become difficult to get a job in the indus-
try unless you have a WSET qualification.While Hong Kong
is moving in that direction, many WSET students in the city
simply enjoy the experience of learning more about the finer
points of a hobby that is clearly close to their hearts.
For absolute beginners the best starting point is the
WSET’s Level 1 Foundation Certificate in Wine, although
many people with an established interest in the subject opt
to start, likeWatson’sWine Cellar staff, with the Level 2 Intermediate Certificate.
Those who wish to pursue their interest further move on to the Level 3 Advanced Certificate and in some cases take
the Level 4 Diploma and Level 5 Honours Diploma. Beginners get a basic education in wine regions, grape varieties, and
the principles of wine tasting and service.
Those who proceed to the Level 4 Diploma, which theWSET describes as its “flagship qualification”, will study different
regions and wine and spirit categories in great depth, as well as learning about the business aspects of the wine trade.They
will tend to be occupying or seeking responsible positions in the wine industry.
SPHERE 27
petitors could make the same claim. In fact, Mr Hepple says
he knows of no other wine retailer in the world with the same
level of commitment to WSET training and qualifications.
Among the members of staff to have successfully completed
both courses are Marketing Executive Janice Wong and Sales
Assistant Cyrus Chung.
Both continued to work full time during their studies,
and because the advanced course is considerably more de-
manding in terms of tasting challenges and in the amount of
coursework to be assimilated, they had to surrender most of
their free time for the better part of two months.
“There’s quite a big gap from intermediate to advanced,” re-
calls Ms Wong. “For the advanced course you really need time
to study or you will fail.
“It covers two papers, the theoretical and the practical.
In each class there is the theory section from the tutor and
then a lot of bottles of wine to taste. For example, we would
talk about Italy for about an hour, and then have six or seven
wines to taste – different kinds of Italian wines.
“The tasting part is hard because it depends on your palate
rather than just your memory. We had to learn how to evalu-
ate the wine and describe it well.”
Both Ms Wong and Mr Chung say they are now much more
confident in their judgement. Mr Chung, who works in the
Discovery Bay store, says the training has helped him consider-
ably in advising customers. “I can give a professional opinion
so I can help customers buy good quality wines and get value
for money. But there is a lot of
wine knowledge to absorb so
I will continue to study hard,”
he says.
For those who wonder
whether staff training to this
level can really make a dif-
ference to service standards,
Mr Hepple has a very simple
answer.
“We have an ongoing mys-
tery shopper programme,”
he explains. “Once a month,
one of our mystery shop-
pers will go into each of our
shops posing as a customer
and asking some pretty dif-
ficult questions. Then we get a report sent back to us.
“In December 2007, Discovery Bay’s mystery shopper score
was particularly good, and the comment about Cyrus was that
he was very helpful, very knowledgeable, and answered all the
questions correctly.”
Hong Kong’s ever-growing legion of wine lovers has long
looked to Watson’s Wine Cellar for a good selection of high
quality wines. And now, thanks to a firm commitment to
the best possible staff training, they now have the certified
assurance of service and guidance to match.
For the advanced
course you really
need time to
study or you
will fail. We had
to learn how
to evaluate
the wine and
describe it
as well