Since 2018, more than 20 students have attained a Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in South Africa.
The WSET Diploma is an internationally accredited qualification that requires a minimum of 500 hours study time, including six mandatory units covering a broad range of topics, from wine production and wine business to still, sparkling, and fortified wines of the world. It can take anything between 18 months and 3 years to complete. The WSET Diploma acts as the fourth and final tier in the WSET Wine curriculum and
provides a base from which to apply for the Master of Wine qualification, considered the top wine qualification in the world.
Alumni of the WSET Diploma now number over 13,000 individuals worldwide and represent a community of like-minded individuals who network, share knowledge and offer and create employment opportunities among each other, providing an invaluable service to the wine industry as a whole. Currently, South Africa has approximately 50 eligible DipWSET alumni with no access to a local chapter of the WSET Global Alumni Association or each other, something winelab.Africa plans to remedy.
Established in 2020 during the Covid pandemic by Andrew Shelly DipWSET and Heloise Fourie, winelab.Africa has been assisting the Cape Town-based International Wine Education Centre (IWEC) and founder Cathy Marston with their classroom courses and the running of the Johannesburg operations. Soon to be branching out into the continent as a WSET Approved Programme Provider (APP), offering WSET courses, winelab.Africa is looking to establish the first African Chapter of the WSET Global Alumni Association. Providing mentorship to junior WSET students, knowledge sharing through tasting masterclasses, networking opportunities, establishing WSET qualifications as the benchmark for senior wine professionals, and elevating wine trade on the continent. The African Chapter of the WSET Global Alumni Association aims to provide internal support to the existing African network of wine professionals and promote growth from within.
