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WSET Level 3 short written answer questions: examples and model answers

The 4 short written answer questions are where most WSET Level 3 candidates lose marks. Each question is split into sub-questions and you score by explaining cause and effect – why a climate gives a style, how a technique changes the wine – not by listing keywords.

Below are short answer questions from The Wine Goat with the points that earn marks. In the free app you write your own answer and get it marked straight away against those key points: what you hit, what is missing and how many marks you would have scored.

  • Count the marks: each mark is usually one precise, explained point.
  • Use the structure of the question: answer every sub-question in order.
  • Explain, don't list: "because", "therefore" and "which results in" score marks.
  • Be specific: name grapes, regions, techniques and their effect on the wine.
  • Practise on paper with a timer from the first week of your course.

Sample questions with answers

Alsace.

Why does Alsace, so far north, produce ripe wines, and what are the four noble grapes and their styles? (5 marks)

Points that score marks

cool to moderate continental; Vosges shelter from westerly rain-bearing winds → few clouds, sunny summers, dry autumns, high sugar ripeness (drought in driest years); best vineyards steepest slopes facing east/south-east, vines trained low for radiated heat; plain vines high against frost, for Crémant; northern part coolest; varied geology influences styles; low disease → organic/biodynamic; Riesling most planted noble: dry, medium-full body, medium alcohol, high acid, citrus, stone fruit, steely (less floral than German; more now with sugar); Gewurztraminer: pungent lychee, rose, sweet spice, pink skin → golden, full, oily, low-medium acid, high alcohol (14%); Pinot Gris: rich, full, high alcohol, more acid than Gewurz, less aromatic, fresh and dried fruit, honey; Muscat (best Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, orange blossom, rose, grape, light-medium body, low-medium acid; Ottonel more planted as Petits Grains suffers poor set and rot)

The Loire Valley.

Explain why Chenin Blanc gives such different styles in Vouvray, Savennières and Coteaux du Layon. (6 marks)

Points that score marks

high acid non-aromatic; uneven ripening even within a bunch → several passes, unripe gives green herbaceous; style depends on ripeness: barely ripe (10–11%) for sparkling, increasingly ripe for dry, medium, sweet (shrivelled or noble rot); trend to riper dry wines with a few grams sugar; apple to tropical fruit, steely smoky dry wines, apricot/citrus peel noble rot; ages decades to honey, toast, hay; Vouvray (east of Tours, Touraine): cool, clay soils, still dry to lusciously sweet by vintage plus sparkling, light-medium body, fresh fruity floral, rarely new oak; Anjou/Saumur: Saumur traditional-method sparkling, Anjou dry often new oak; Savennières and Coteaux du Layon in warmer drier western Anjou (Mauges hills, stony soils) → medium-full, less floral; Savennières: well-exposed, air circulation impedes noble rot, late-harvested full dry wines that age for decades; Coteaux du Layon: sheltered Layon valley, noble rot, Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux among world's greatest sweet wines

Loire: reds and rosés.

Describe the Cabernet Franc reds of Touraine (Chinon, Bourgueil, Saumur-Champigny) and the rosés of Anjou. (6 marks)

Points that score marks

Cabernet Franc suits the Loire because it flowers and ripens early; Chinon (south of Loire), Bourgueil and Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil (north): sandy soils → light fruity early drinking; south-facing limestone and clay slopes → fuller, more tannic; some oak, best evolve for years; Saumur and Saumur-Champigny lighter in body and tannin, juicy berry, floral, best young, can be chilled (some fuller producers); Gamay second black grape (Touraine, Anjou) fruity early; Pinot Noir small amounts in Central Vineyards, light; rosés: Rosé de Loire always dry, min 30% Cabernet Franc/Sauvignon, mainly Anjou-Saumur; Cabernet d'Anjou highest quality, always medium-sweet, Cabernet Franc + Sauvignon; Rosé d'Anjou less sweet, mainly Grolleau (high-yielding local) with Cabernet Franc; Touraine rosés dry fresh from many grapes; Sancerre rosé Pinot Noir, pale, dry, delicate; direct pressing or short maceration, inert temperature-controlled fermentation

Practise all of it in the free app

Your answers are saved to your profile, the app builds your day-by-day study plan up to the exam and brings back your weak points until you master them.

Start free – build my planTry the free Bordeaux module

Frequently asked questions

How many written questions are in the WSET Level 3 exam?

There are 4 short written answer questions in the theory exam, each divided into sub-questions.

How are WSET Level 3 written answers marked?

Marks are awarded for accurate, relevant points that explain cause and effect, so a structured, specific answer scores more than a list of keywords.

Where can I practise WSET 3 short answer questions with marking?

The Wine Goat has 101 short answer questions marked instantly against the key points, with a model answer for each one.

More WSET Level 3 resources

WSET 3 questions by region and topic