Most people who get in touch with us about a wine course in Toronto have already decided they want to learn this for a career or serious hobby and they want to know which level to start at and how much of the course will happen with a tasting glass in front of them. That is a reasonable thing to ask, because the WSET courses are a ladder rather than a single qualification, with considerable distance between Level 1 and Level 3 in terms of study hours and course fees.
We are an Approved Programme Provider, which means WSET has accredited us to deliver and examine its qualifications in Canada, and the certificate you get after the course is the same one issued to a student sitting the same exam in London or Hong Kong for example, so you’ll have a worldwide accreditation.
We run Levels 1, 2 and 3 wine and spirits courses, and combined Level 3 Award in Wines and Spirits available online. As well as those qualifications we run guided tastings and shorter wine education sessions for people who want the learning without an exam at the end of it, and have online courses to build your wine knowledge.
The people in our classes are a mixed group. Some work in Toronto restaurants and hotels and need a credential their employer will recognise, some work in retail or for an agency, and a good number have no professional interest at all and simply want to understand what they are drinking because they totally love wine.
Which wine courses in Toronto do we run?
Our wine courses are delivered across three levels, and each one changes what you are expected to know and be able to do to pass the exam.
Level 1 Award in Wines is a single day and assumes you’re starting from nothing. We cover the main styles of wine, the principal grape varieties, how to store and serve a bottle, and the basics of matching wine with food. Tasting starts here, using a simplified version of the WSET Systematic Approach to Tasting, and the exam is a short multiple choice paper sat at the end of the day.
Level 2 Award in Wines is where some people who already drink wine and have a good base understanding start. It covers the classic grape varieties and where they grow well, the growing environment, winemaking and maturation choices, and how labelling works. We cover broad regions like France, Italy and Spain alongside the main New World wine regions. This is the level Toronto employers are usually looking for when a job posting asks for wine certification and experience.
Level 3 Award in Wines is the most demanding course, where you’re having to explain why a wine tastes as it does by reference to climate, viticulture and winemaking. The world of wine is covered in far more depth in level 3, including regional law and classification, and French wine in particular gets a lot of focus. It also requires independent study between classes in a way the lower course levels don’t, and the exam comes in two parts, a theory paper and a blind tasting paper, both of which have to be passed.
WSET spirits courses and guided tastings
Our spirits courses work the same way as wines and are taught brand neutral. Level 1 Award in Spirits is a hands-on introduction to the main styles of spirits, how they are made, and how they behave in mixed drinks. Level 2 goes into raw materials and fermentation, distillation and how still design shapes the resulting spirit, maturation, and the major categories in detail, from whisky and brandy through rum, agave spirits, gin and liqueurs. This is a good qualification for anyone working behind a bar in Toronto as it’s less commonly held and will make you stand out.
Our guided tastings are built for people who want to learn how to be attentive to taste without needing a certification, and we run them for private groups, corporate events and in people’s homes. These sessions suit beverage professionals and wine aficionados equally well. They can be a good way to find out whether you want to commit to a qualification before you pay for one. The tasting technique taught is the same one we teach in certified courses.
Where our classes are held and how online study works
We teach in person in Toronto, and we also offer WSET wine courses in London, Ontario in partnership with The London Club, which puts internationally recognised wine education within reach of students across Southwestern Ontario without having to drive all the way up the 401. Those classes are taught by Jessica DiFruscia, a WSET Certified Educator who holds the Level 3 Award in Wines and brings 25 years of hospitality experience, including 15 years managing her family’s restaurant, Bertoldi’s Trattoria. Both locations run the same syllabus and the same exam.
Online study is open to students anywhere in Canada. The content, the materials and the qualification are identical, but you don’t have the hands on tasting experience of in-person classes. We also run guided tasting sessions via Zoom, where students source their own bottles and taste along with the session.
TSWS Wine Pro Tip: buy the bottles before you start an online course, not as you go.
Students who study online and intend to taste alongside the material sometimes leave the sourcing until the module arrives, and then either skip the tasting or substitute whatever they already have at home. We recommend reading the sample list at the start, buy the whole set of wines at once, and keep them unopened until the relevant session arrives.
Course fees and what your enrolment includes
Wine course fees start at $350 for the Level 1 Award in Wines to $700 for Level 2 and $1,400 for Level 3, all studied in person. Online, Level 1 is $350, Level 2 is $650, and the combined Level 3 Award in Wines and Spirits is $1,300. On the spirits side, Level 1 is $420 in person or $350 online, Level 2 is $900 in person or $695 online, and the combined Level 3 online course is $1,200.
The price includes your study materials, the exam entry and the certificate. We also offer discounted packages for anyone who already knows they want more than one course level or to complete both wine and spirits courses.
If you are not certain which level course will be best for you, call us on +1 647 891 1459 or email bookings@tsws-wine.com and we will talk it through with you and help you decide.
How WSET study leads to the Diploma and a sommelier career in Ontario
The Wine and Spirit Education Trust is the leading provider of drinks qualifications worldwide, and the courses don’t stop at Level 3. The Level 4 Diploma in Wines is the expert-level qualification, and takes most people going through the program between one and two years, and is the required entry route to the Master of Wine programme, which is a title only held by a small number of people across North America.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Smart Serve as well as a WSET qualification to work with wine in Ontario?
Yes, if you will be selling, serving or sampling alcohol you do. Smart Serve is the training programme approved by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and it is a legal requirement for those roles, taken online with a supervised test and it has no expiry date. It covers the law, the effects of alcohol and how to handle an intoxicated patron, but it doesn’t teach you anything about wine, which is why Toronto employers expect both Smart Serve and a wine qualification in their employees rather than one standing in for the other.
If I do one of the courses, how much study time will I need outside class?
Level 1 needs almost no study beyond the learning on the day itself. Level 2 assumes no prior wine knowledge but does assume you will revise outside of class, and the study material is usually estimated at around thirty hours plus revision time across several weeks. Level 3 takes months to complete and rewards steady work rather than cramming before the exam. If you are working full time and aiming at Level 3, it’s useful to plan a fixed block of time each week to study rather than assuming the classes will be enough to help you pass the exam.
Can I start with a spirits course without taking the wine courses first?
Yes. The wines and spirits course streams are independent of each other and neither gives credit toward the other, so there is nothing stopping you starting at Level 1 or Level 2 Award in Spirits. Bar staff and cocktail bartenders will often take that approach, because the spirits certification is more relevant to their work.
