It's now only 48 hours to go

It's hard to believe I opened my first book to start my Diploma Unit 3 studying on the 24th June 2007 and here I now am only 48 hours away from the exam.

In between I've done around 300 hours of studying and tasted countless wines, certainly more than 400 and many more if I was to add in the wines tasted at trade events. I'd say the WSET guidance of a minimum of 300 hours studying is right but conservative for those of us not involved in the trade on a day to day basis. When I was working at Oddbins on a casual basis early on in my Diploma studies. I was absorbing more than I realised. It helped cement producer names and what grapes you could generally find growing in which region. It also has been a benefit in tasting practice as I have more of a feel for price so have felt reasonably confident in giving a price range when assessing a wine's quality.

But what would I do differently if I was to start my studies all over again?

I'd certainly have done more more hours involved with the trade, say by working at Oddbins or at trade events. I'd have stumped up the £140 or so for a Harpers subscription as I think it's a good way to keep on top of the commercial world. I'd also have tasted more but I suppose you can never get enough tasting experience no matter how much you do. Joining the tasting group was invaluable to me. I'd also have done nearer 400 hours of study although I accept that it has been tough enough to fit in the 300 or so hours I have done in the time.

I'm not nervous about Wednesday, just apprehensive about being able to recall all the facts sufficient to get enough marks to pass. If each question is marked out of 100 then I need to get, simply put, 55 facts down to get 55 marks for a pass. Recall of facts is one of the hardest things I've found during my studying but doing the Diploma has certainly helped exercise my brain.

It's back to the books.