WSET DIPLOMA D2 CERTIFIED QUALITY EXAM VERIFIED QUESTIONS
AND DETAILED ANSWERS ASSURED PASS
What is an estate producer?
It is an winery that produces wines exclusively from their own
vineyards (wholly owned or leased)
Cite advantages of estate producers
- retain control over entire process - choose final style of wine
- total profit
- marketing benefits: 'estate-bottled' authenticity, tell story
Cite disadvantages of estate producers
- cost of managing vineyard and equipping and running winery: some
need to hire
- difficult vintage: reduced production, higher price, which customers
may not be willing to pay
Why are large estates financially more viable than smaller ones?
- producer greater volume of wine more cheaply - economy of scale
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- easier to mechanize
List some reasons why the average vineyard tend to be small in many
traditional wine-producing regions
- historical factors: french succession laws
- geography: in hillier regions, vineyards are limited by the terrain
What kind of business is particularly attracted to the grower option?
Owner of small vineyards who cannot justify the cost of buying or
hiring expensive winery equipment and do not want to have to
market and sell wine
Cite advantages of growers
- better cash flow: payment due when grapes are sold
- focus all efforts on producing best possible grapes
Cite disadvantages for growers
- vintage variation
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- fluctuation in supply and demand
What are two options for growers to sell grapes? Cite advantages
and disadvantages
- enter into contract with producer or merchant: certainty, security,
strong working relationship; need to meet certain standard, cannot
obtain higher price when demand increases
- sell on the spot market: higher risks but greater rewards
What are grower-producers?
Growers that produce wine from their grapes but sell to a merchant
to mature and bottle, common in burgundy
Cite advantages and disadvantages of grower-producers
- advantages: no cost of maturation or marketing
- disadvantages: smaller profit; lose control over style of finished
wine; may be blended with wine from other producers
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What is merchant?
- traditional: buy immature wine, mature and sell under merchant's
name, often blend different producers prior to bottling
- now there are also grower-merchants who own vineyards alongside
making wines made from bought-in grapes, juice or wine
Cite advantages of merchants
- no cost of buying and managing vineyards, especially beneficial in
burgundy, champagne etc
- protection and flexibility in bad vintages
- to have quantities large enough to supply private label wines, which
means another outlet
Cite disadvantages of merchants
- little control over grape growing or winemaking process - mitigate
by offering technical support to their suppliers
- spot market price can be high - mitigate by long-term contracts
with suppliers
Explain the rise of micro-négociant in burgundy