It's D Day

6:30 am. Today is D Day, the day I sit the final exam for my Advanced WSET. I was wondering if like a hockey player before a big game, I would go unshaven today.

This evening will be the end of 22 weeks of intense study – 35 really, since I went straight from my Level Two into the Advanced Level.

Last chance to go over some areas this morning. It will not be possible to review it all today, so what areas shall it be? Ports, which I’m a little weak on, or back to the German wines laws? Actually, I can’t do the German wine law one more time – what will be will be when it comes to Germany. Stacks of tasting notes, books, classroom notes, and Jancis Robinson surround me. It will be a wonderful thing to get my living room back.

There is more than a little trepidation going on here I must admit. The essay questions are looming large. Four essays of four questions each. What will they be about? Italian wines I hope. Please, please be Italian wines, and I will be good for the rest of the year, I promise. One blind wine tasting. I am hoping for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc – hope springs eternal I suppose. Multiple choice questions as well, testing trivia of wine areas around the world.

The coffee is ready and only a few hours left. Books cover the floor, the couch, the coffee table. All are screaming for attention. Off I go… except no Germany today.