Savant Wines Notebook

Floating Grapes

How to prepare for the Certified Specialist of Wine Exam (CSW)

Got questions about the Society of Wine Educators Certified Specialist of Wine Exam?  Wondering how much time it takes to prepare?  Read on ...

I proctor the CSW exam at UCLA Ext. 2 x a year - in December and June.  Click here to join my student mailing list (it goes out every 6 weeks or so) and it will inform you of the exact dates of the exams and courses, as they are scheduled.  You register for the exam via SWE, not UCLA Ext.

Currently UCLA Ext. does not offer a CSW exam prep class, as the courses taught already cover the information needed to pass the exam.  However due to many requests, I am working on an exam prep workshop for 2011.  I will be announcing details in December, and there will be information about exam prep workshops in my newsletter.   

These are the general guidelines I give my students about preparing for the CSW exam: 

• The CSW exam is solely based on the CSW Study Guide.  You absolutely must get a copy of this and study directly from it in order to pass the exam.  Order it from the SWE.
• You should look at any exam for wine certification, as the conclusion of a wine study program.  It is a certification of the knowledge you have learned.  The knowledge should be the goal, not the exam itself.
• Your success on passing the exam will solely depend on how much time you devote to studying.  An instructor can explain the regions, laws, concepts, methodology - but you alone are responsible for committing this information to memory.
• It is not a matter of just reading the study guide.  You must know the definitions of all key terms (facts) and be able to apply the knowledge to answer the exam questions correctly.
• You should spend a considerable amount of time with the SWE's CSW online prep site.  It will give you a feel for how the questions/answers are worded and the difficulty level of the exam questions.  The difficulty level of the CSW questions is on par with exams for the courses Vintage I, II and III at UCLA Ext. 
• If you have a moderate base of wine knowledge then you should plan to study for 20 hours a week for 10-12 weeks in preparation for the CSW exam.  Doing this in conjunction with a wine course can be beneficial as you will have an instructor on hand to explain concepts in more detail.  Receiving detailed information in various formats helps you to remember information and apply it in an exam. 
• Use the CSW Study Guide as your only point of reference for facts in preparing for the CSW exam.  You, or an instructor, may legitimately disagree with a fact presented in the manual.  Get over it.  The CSW exam is taken exclusively from this manual only - put aside everything else as reference.  You are being tested on the facts presented in the CSW manual.    
• If you have very little wine knowledge, then you must take some structured wine classes prior to beginning a study program for a wine certification exam.  I recommend 9-12 months of classes, and figure you will spend about 10-15 hours a week at it.  Slow, steady, consistent delivery in a variety of formats, is what will help you to retain information and apply it in an exam situation.  You need to build a foundation of knowledge BEFORE you begin to study for a wine certification exam.
• Introduction to Wine at UCLA Ext. is a good place to start, but the course in itself is NOT even close enough to prepare you for the CSW exam.
• I have had several students complete the entire sequential certificate program in Wine Education and Management at UCLA Ext and go on to pass the CSW exam on their first try.  (Intro to Wine, Vintage I - Viticulture & Enology, Vintage II - European Wine Regions, Vintage III - New World Wine Regions, Business of Wine Management)

Links for further reference:

• FAQs on Wine Certification
• Information on the UCLA Wine Education & Management Program
• UCLA Ext - the best place to take wine classes in Los Angeles
• UCLA Extension
• Society of Wine Educators
• Join my student mailing list for updates on courses and exams

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about the wine courses I teach and preparing for the CSW exam.

shelby@savantwines.com

Shelby Ledgerwood, CWE
Savant Wines

Los Angeles Wine Classes - UCLA Extension the best place to take a wine class in LA!

Looking for a great place to take a wine class or course from certified experts in Los Angeles? 

UCLA Extension is the oldest wine education program in Los Angeles dating back over 40 years!  The current instructors (Shelby Ledgerwood, Justin Gallen and Neil McNally) are certified by various wine organizations and have over 50 years of experience in the wine trade combined. 

Check out UCLA Extension Wine Education and Management Program!

On the UCLA Extension website, type in "wine" in the search box to view the classes offered for the current quarter.  Classes for the coming quarter are posted and available for registration about 1.5 months before class begins.  New classes are offered every quarter.  Please note: some classes fill up up several weeks in advance of the first class meeting.

Summer Quarter 2010 currently running:

• Business of Wine Management (Justin Gallen)
• Vintage II: France, Spain, Italy (Justin Gallen)
• An Introduction to Wine (Shelby Ledgerwood)

Fall Quarter 2010 will open in early August:

• An Introduction to Wine (Shelby Ledgerwood)
• Vintage I: Viticulture and Enology (Shelby Ledgerwood)
• Vintage III: European Wine Regions and the New World (Neil McNally)
• Society of Wine Educators CSW Exam (Wine Certification) (Shelby Ledgerwood)

Winter Quarter 2011 will open in late November:

• An Introduction to Wine (Shelby Ledgerwood)
• The Wines of Bordeaux (new, 4 week intermediate course!) (Shelby Ledgerwood)
• Vintage II: France, Spain, Italy (wines & regions) (Justin Gallen)
• Business of Wine Management (Justin Gallen)

Course summaries & start dates: Local Wine Events.
Detailed course info: Savant Wines - Wine Classes
Get monthly updates via my Monthly Newsletter

Looking forward to tasting with you soon!
SL

Why take tasting notes?

Robin Garr of 30 Second Wine Advisor says it so well ...

"And just about every wine professional I know would agree that a strong tasting memory is one of the keys to training a good palate. The more you can remember about previous wines, the more effectively you can gauge each new wine you taste."

Why Take Tasting Notes