Last Updated on October 9, 2026
Learning to taste, pair and understand wine, beer and spirits
If you know your wine, chances are you have heard of WSET School London. The Wine & Spirit Education Trust was founded in 1969 as a charitable trust to provide education for the UK wine and spirits trade. Today, more than 50 years later, it has grown into a global organisation, offering qualifications in wine, spirits, sake and beer through a network of more than 800 approved providers in over 70 countries.
Nowadays, the courses aren’t just for people working in the drinks industry. They welcome everyone from complete beginners to more seasoned enthusiasts, with a strong emphasis on developing the knowledge and confidence to understand, taste and talk about drinks.
WSET School London is the organisation’s flagship school and is based on Bermondsey Street, a very short walk from London Bridge. It describes itself as the UK’s largest wine, spirits, sake and beer school, offering everything from introductory Level 1 courses to the much more demanding Level 4 Diploma in Wines. There are evening, weekend and intensive options, making it possible to fit serious study around a job and a life.
But what does it actually feel like to learn there?
I went along to one of the school’s taster sessions – a whistle-stop introduction to wine, beer and spirits, with food pairings along the way. It was a really fun way of giving prospective students a feel for both the teaching style and the breadth of what WSET offers, without any commitment needed to join a course.
We began with Charles Hiedsieck Champagne paired with something wonderfully simple – crisps! Just the plain salted variety. It was a brilliant reminder that food and drink pairing doesn’t have to mean elaborate dishes. The combination showed how the bubbles, acidity and freshness of sparkling wine can work with the salt and crunch of crisps. It was delicious!
From there we moved on to still wines – a white Riesling and a red Châteauneuf-du-Pape paired with a Dishoom samosa. Again, the food was deliberately accessible – and the pairing demonstrated how factors such as acidity, sweetness, tannin, spice and weight can alter the way a wine tastes alongside food.
We learned some basic pairing principles such as thinking about the intensity of the flavours, the heat of the chilli in the samosa, the acidity and richness of the food we are eating, and how these characteristics can change the way a wine tastes. So rather than simply deciding whether a wine ‘goes with’ a particular dish, we were encouraged to think about what was happening in the glass and on the plate – and why a pairing worked, or didn’t. It was all very interactive and personal.
Then came beer. Again, two different beers were presented first – a fruit lambic, which is a traditional Belgian beer brewed with real fruit and an imperial milk stout. We were advised the first should taste a little sour and sweet and the latter a little bitter and sweet. They were served with a vanilla cheesecake – again an unexpected pairing that proved just how much there is to explore beyond the familiar beer-and-burger or beer-and-curry combos.
Finally, we turned to three spirits paired with three different chocolates. Here the emphasis shifted again as we were thinking not just about what the drink tastes like in isolation, but about how sweetness, bitterness, texture, alcohol and flavour interact when the two are consumed together. I confess I found this round the most difficult and was not able to identify some of the tasting notes but it was very fun trying!
What I particularly liked about the session was that it didn’t feel intimidating in the slightest. Drinks education can sometimes seem like a world of arcane terminology, complicated tasting notes and people who can identify a grape variety from 20 paces. WSET takes a much more structured approach: look, smell, taste, think and – importantly – learn how to articulate what you’re experiencing.
That combination of theory and tasting is clearly central to the school’s courses. Even the introductory qualifications are hands-on, with students tasting a range of wines, spirits, beers or sake as they learn about production, styles and the factors that influence what ends up in the glass.
And if committing to a qualification feels like a step too far, the school’s programme of tastings and events offers another way in. For example, there are masterclasses, food-pairing sessions, blind tastings, flavour workshops and talks, all ranging from accessible beginner events to highly specialised sessions for more experienced Diploma students.
What’s coming up?
There is plenty to tempt the curious drinker over the next few months. Upcoming events include Negronis, Negronis, Negronis!, a Wines of Portugal session with author Richard Mayson, a Variations on Valpolicella tasting and a Bordeaux masterclass for Diploma students. There are also more specialist sessions such as Explore Spain’s New Wave and events focused on revision and mock tastings for those already working towards WSET qualifications.
For anyone thinking about taking a first step into drinks education, there are also plenty of courses – Level 1 wine courses are available as evening, Saturday and day courses, alongside introductory courses in spirits, sake and beer. For those wanting to go further, Level 2 and Level 3 courses are offered in a variety of formats.
The appeal for me was starting in this fun way – with a glass, an outstanding samosa and a little curiosity!
39-45 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3XF
For bookings, call 020 7089 3800 or use the online form.
If you enjoy wine, try these wine bars in London – Pedro’s Wine Bar, Tasca Wine Bar, Godet Wine Bar
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