D0: Spotlight: Wine Tasting the WSET L4 SAT, What is new compared to the L3.
In this second interview we focus on the differences between the SAT for Level 3 and Level 4 covering Appearance, Nose, Palate and Conclusions.
Appearance is virtually identical L4 to L3 but there are a few differences in colour to note (e.g. salmon). Clarity - no marks are awarded for this observation at either level.
For the Nose (aromas/flavours) generally, it is good to stick to the SAT lexicon but if you identify something not covered it is okay to include. Some of the terminology is more international than British to reflect that it's a global qualification. At Level 3 tertiary aromas are divided into bottle and oxidative as at L4.
Palate is almost the same for both, though for level of sweetness in L4 luscious is moved into other observations and would need to be noted there. At L4 for tannins in addition to the level of tannins, there is the nature of tannins (range of descriptors, eg. ripe, unripe, green, stalky). Alcohol is the same for L4 as L3. More marks are available for other observations.
Conclusions
Balance, Length, Intensity and Complexity (BLIC) is a good place to start but you need to explain why its balanced or not, what the finish is like, giving a description, in what way it is complex or intense. For intensity it would be finding identifiable characteristics, eg. defining the fruit characters - are they generic or well defined, this then leads into the complexity where you might talk about typicity, texture and ageing potential. All of these link into your assessment of quality in your conclusion.
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