Even though it is Unit 6, it is only my 2nd exam. My first was Unit 2 - the Viticulture and Winemaking exam that has to be taken before any other. I took that in April and the next available exam was Unit 6 - Fortified Wines and so I am scheduled to take that on June 6th.
Most APPs ( Approved Program Providers ) offer an in-person course where you can taste wines that they provide, learn how they distinguish between different colors of wines ( is that a deep amber with red tints or is it a medium tawny color ), pick up on aromas, get feed back on levels of acidity, etc. You also get basic information on the Producers, Regions, and Styles of fortified wines.
Or you can self study, which is what I am doing because the course wasn't being offered at this time. I can take the test, because they are scheduled a couple of times each year by WSET Global and one can generally work with their APP to sit for a test even if they haven't taken the course. It is relatively common, I think. You can save several hundred $ by doing self study, although you will also spend a couple of hundred on buying your own wines.
So. I have been studying for about a month now. I spend probably 10-15 hours a week at it. What I like about WSET is that they are organized. They have a syllabus, they have a study guide, and they use the Ultimate textbook which is Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine. The syllabus tells you what are the general areas of study that you should know. The study guide gives you a specific list of topics that you will be tested on, And the Oxford Companion has all of the topics in encyclopedic format. One just has to read and learn them, and in some cases to relate two or three together, combine them into a larger subject area and to be prepared to write about them. the test will pick 3 topics at random out of the 150, but may word the question so that you have to combine the knowledge of 2 or 3 topics.
There are about 150 individual topics in the study guide. They are spread throughout the 800 page Oxford Companion. As part of my studies, I paraphrased each of the topics into a text document, to help learn the information ( read it once while reading it, read it a 2nd time while writing it ), but also to help my review. I now have a 27 page text document that contains all of my notes in one place ( If anybody ever reads this and wants a copy - let me know and I will e-mail it to you. I just don't want to post it, because even though it is in my own words ( mostly ) it could violate copyright.) Now when I study I can take my pages anywhere and work from topic to topic without paging through the book.
I also spent the last month tasting wines, at least the ones that I could find at Costco, Bevmo and a couple of specialty liquor stores in San Francisco. It is actually kind of hard to find a Banyuls fortified Grenache, or a Rutherglen Muscat from Australia. I will be pathetically guessing if either of these comes up on the test. However, I did make a set of tasting notes about the wines I did drink. I am going to share those here, in hopes that it can give you some additional insights when you do your own tasting.
Sherrys:
First of all, in my limited experience if you are tasting fortified wines and it is almost clear, is light, is low on acid, and has a particular taste that I recognize as fermenting bread dough, though you may also recognize it as over-ripe apples, because of the aldehydes that the flor yeast produces, then it is either a Fino or a Manzanilla. You will read that Monzanilla has a "salty tang". I believe that is true, and I think that is the way to tell them apart.
Now it gets harder.
Amontillado - one hears that many of the commercial amontillados that one finds today are not "traditional" ones that are Finos whose flor has died exposing the wine to oxidation and darkening and becoming heavier and richer. The more modern ones might be a blend of some fino and some oloroso, giving an intermediate with that has an amber color, some caramel aromas but still a little of the yeasty flavor I mentioned above. A True Amontillado should be dry - it was a fino to begin with. The more modern style may have some sweetness.
It can be hard to tell an Oloroso - especially a medium one, from a modern style Amontillado. Color will be the same, Aging will be the same. They will both probably be slightly sweet. You should be able to tell them apart because the oloroso never aged under Flor like the fino did, and shouldn't have the flavors associated with that yeast.
A Cream Sherry is always a blend. Mostly one is judging its higher level of sweetness to differentiate from other olorosos.
Almost all of the Sherries will have a light acidity and a moderate ( for a fortified wine ) alcohol. Remember flor yeast can only live between about 15% - 16% ABV so finos come out at around that alcohol. while Olorosos are fortified to 16-18% to prevent flor from growing. These are good things to remember when trying to differentiate between a rich caramel tasting oloroso and a tawny Port.
Ports
I don't know if I will be able to tell between a Ruby (lower quality), Reserve (higher quality), Late Bottled Vintage - LVB (high quality) and a Vintage or Single Quinta Vintage (both highest quality) Port. Honestly, I don't expect that they will pour an expensive Vintage port for the test. They exist but can be hard to come by. The LBV may show some wood characteristics, the Vintage or Single Quinta may throw some sediment in your class. Other than that I think you have to go for quality and complexity.
The tawny Ports pose an different problem. Colheita, and the various Tawnys with age are going to taste very similar AND they will have some of the same caramel, hazelnut, walnut flavors as the Oloroso sherries. (darn it). You might expect the Colheita to have a little more fruit flavor. You might expect a 20 year old Tawny ( or 30 or 40 ) to have more color. In either event, the Port will probably have a higher suggestion of alcohol than the Oloroso sherries. I generally got some alcohol burn with the Ports but not the sherries. Also, the Ports have a tawny color and the sherries have an amber color. To me, the tawny has some more of a red tint to it.
Madeira
These wines have the same tawny to brown color as the Tawny Ports. The difference that I notice is that the sugar tastes baked. That is, it doesn't taste so caramel like, it tastes more like the sugar you get in a peanut brittle or toffee. I think this comes from the fact that these wines are heated during aging and that baked flavor does come through. The other thing to notice is that Madeira ( to me at least ) don't have quite the same alcohol as a tawny port. And they have a LOT more acid than an oloroso sherry. Probably even more than the Tawny.
From a tasting sense and from a "what is this wine?" sense which in the big picture is not that important in a WSET tasting, here is my summary.
In General
a) Mederia has slightly higher acids. Sherry does not.
b) Port has alcohol burn. Sherry does not. Madeira does not.
c) Olorosos might be syrupy, tawny's could. Madeiras not.
d) Manzanilla does have salty overtones to yeast. fino does not.
e) Olorosos are amber. (no red ). Tawnys are tawny ( with a shade or red or brown ). Madeiras can be full brown and a Malmsey can have a brown core but broad a yellow-green(ish) rim
f) Madeiras have toffee – baked sugar. Tawnys are caramel, but not baked. Ditto Olorosos
g) Amontillados are dry (or should be). Olorosos are sweet.
Anyhow - here is where I am with a month to go. I hope this can help in your Unit 6 test prep or just thinking about fortified wines in general.
john
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