If you’ve ever wondered exactly what stands between a wine professional and their WSET Level 4 Diploma, wonder no more. WSET has published the complete list of wines poured in its 2025/2026 Diploma tasting exams — and this year’s line-up reads like a masters class in ambition, from a £150-plus prestige cuvée Champagne to a sherry style that has never before appeared on a Diploma paper.
For anyone studying toward the Diploma, teaching it, or simply obsessed with what “blind tasting at the highest level” actually looks like in practice, this list is essential reading.
Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2014 appeared in June’s D4 Sparkling Wines exam. As a prestige cuvée vintage Champagne retailing north of £150 a bottle, it’s a serious ask of any candidate tasting blind — and a signal that WSET isn’t shying away from top-tier benchmark wines.
Barbadillo Manzanilla Pasada En Rama De La Pastora featured in January’s D5 Fortified Wines paper, marking the first time an en rama sherry has ever appeared in a WSET Diploma exam. En rama styles are bottled straight from the cask with minimal fining or filtration, preserving more texture and character than a conventional release — and their inclusion reflects the sherry category’s growing critical momentum.
D3: Wines of the World — 24 Wines Across Nine Countries
The largest and most geographically sprawling section of the exam, D3 spanned classic and lesser-tasted appellations alike:
France: Pouilly-Fumé, Beaujolais (three separate wines, including a Moulin-à-Vent), Gigondas and Alsace Gewurztraminer.
Germany: Dönnhoff’s Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese from the Nahe.
Italy: Valpolicella Ripasso, Dolcetto d’Alba, Barbera and G.D. Vajra’s Barolo Ravera from Piemonte.
Spain: Rioja Reserva and a Catalunya rosado.
USA: Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc.
Portugal: Vinho Verde.
Argentina: Salta Torrontés.
South Africa: Robertson Pinotage, Western Cape Chenin Blanc and Walker Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
Australia: Clare Valley Riesling, Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, Hunter Valley Semillon and South Australian Grenache.
New Zealand: Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
D4: Sparkling Wines — Nine Wines, Six Countries
Beyond the headline-grabbing Taittinger, the sparkling flight covered a genuinely global spread of styles: Henriot Brut Millésime 2015, a Pfalz Riesling Brut, Italian Extra Dry and Prosecco Rosé, a Cava-style Gran Reserva from Catalunya, Louis Roederer’s Quartet Rosé from Anderson Valley, Hambledon Brut from Hampshire, and House of Arras Brut Elite from Tasmania.
D5: Fortified Wines — Six Wines Anchored by Madeira and Sherry
Madeira featured heavily, with three wines from Blandy’s and Henriques & Henriques spanning Sercial, Malvasia and the Duke of Clarence blend. France contributed a Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, while Spain closed out the flight with the record-setting Barbadillo en rama and an Amontillado from Bodegas Lustau.
Source: WSET Global