Library Release - The Benefits of a WSET Wine Education w/ Peter Marks, MW of the Napa Valley Wine Academy

2023-04-13

Educating students about wine is more about the “psychic paycheck” than the monetary one for Peter Marks, MW, partner and Vice President of the Napa Valley Wine Academy (“NVWA”), the leading provider of Wine & Spirit Education Trust (“WSET”) courses globally. Peter tells us about the different levels of the WSET (from Level 1 to Diploma), the full costs of wine education, and the benefits. He also discusses the innovations happening with online learning, including sending wine kits out with their courses and best practices for virtual seminars. ...

Detailed Show Notes:

Being in wine education is more about the “psychic paycheck” - getting feedback from your customers and students

Napa Valley Wine Academy

Founded in 2011, offering WSETbprograms
Now the largest WSET provider in the world
An Approved Program Provider (“APP”) for WSET - it’s like a franchise; NVWA buys materials, study packs, and exams from WSET; grading is done by WSET in London
65% of business in WSET, 35% in other wine programs
Develop proprietary courses - e.g., Wine 101, Wine 201, Napa Valley Wine Expert, Oregon Wine Expert, and the Business of Wine (with Tim Hanni, MW)

WSET

4 levels, 1 through 4 (4 is called the Diploma)
Levels 3 & 4 provide more understanding of the subjects
The diploma includes the business of wine and is a precursor for the Master of Wine program
Geared towards all aspects of the wine industry, very broad view vs. other programs (e.g., Court of Master Sommeliers is focused on restaurants/service, and Society of Wine Educators is focused on education)

Wine industry (or “trade”) participation in courses

Level 1 - ~90% consumer, 10% trade
Level 2 - ~75% consumer, 25% trade
Level 3 - ~40% consumer, 60% trade
Level 4 - ~10% consumer, 90% trade
More consumers are coming into the program

The benefits of a wine education, the 3 C’s of the WSET

Credential - showing your accomplishment
Confidence - knowing the facts about wine, speaking with confidence
Culture - participating in the culture of wine...the pay may be low, but being a part of the friendship and social aspects of the wine industry

~100,000 WSET students/year - now the “go to” wine education organization - it covers the entire industry and is global

Recent changes to the program - giving students what they want

Launched a Sake program
Split spirits from Wine for the Diploma
Introducing Beer soon

Virtual classes

Has always been an option - was called “self-study” and had to go in person to take exams
Exams for L1 and L2 are now offered online; L3 and Diploma cannot be because they include tastings
NVWA launched wine kits (wine samples re-bottled into small vials) for virtual classes - do virtual tastings with them; the wines are disguised to be blind
Had to learn how to better engage students online - using breakout rooms, polls/quizzes, reducing seminar times to 1-2 hours, best practice is to engage with students every 3-5 minutes
Do live webinars that are recorded
Pricing is the same as in-person, but no travel costs

The cost of wine education

Course fees, wine (for Diploma ~200-220 wines are recommended to know; wine can cost $500-2,000 for samples), travel
Wine kits are included in course costs

Scholarships - NVWA has several partners for scholarships