Level 3 wine exam practice ยท Learning outcome 5

Advising customers: storage, service, faults, pairing: practice questions

48 original multiple-choice questions on this chapter, each with an explanation. Five are below; the rest, plus timed mocks and written-answer drills with mark schemes, are in the app.

Sample questions

A young sweet white has a sharp, acrid smell that catches the back of the throat and makes the taster cough and sneeze. Which fault is likely?
  1. Excessive sulfur dioxide, usually from heavy additions at bottling; it often diminishes with air
  2. Oxidation
  3. Brettanomyces
  4. Cork taint
Answer: Excessive sulfur dioxide, usually from heavy additions at bottling; it often diminishes with air. Sulfur dioxide protects wine but too much is pungent and irritating, especially in sweet wines where larger doses are used. Swirling and time in the glass dissipate it; a wine that remains acrid is faulty.
What is cork taint, and how does it show in the glass?
  1. Contamination, usually by the compound TCA from a tainted cork, giving aromas of damp cardboard or wet dog and stripping the wine of its fruit
  2. A sweet, oxidised character
  3. A sharp vinegar smell
  4. Bubbles in a still wine
Answer: Contamination, usually by the compound TCA from a tainted cork, giving aromas of damp cardboard or wet dog and stripping the wine of its fruit. TCA is detectable at tiny concentrations and makes a wine smell musty and taste flat; it is harmless but ruins the wine. It is the fault customers most often mean by 'corked', and the reason screw caps and technical corks exist.
Why can bottles sealed with screw caps be stored upright without harm?
  1. The screw cap's seal does not depend on being kept moist, unlike a natural cork, which dries and shrinks if the bottle stands for years
  2. Screw-cap wines do not age
  3. Screw caps let in enough air to keep the wine fresh
  4. Upright storage is better for all wines
Answer: The screw cap's seal does not depend on being kept moist, unlike a natural cork, which dries and shrinks if the bottle stands for years. Horizontal storage exists to keep cork in contact with wine; a screw cap's liner needs no such contact. Cork-sealed bottles still belong on their side; standing them up for a few days before service to settle sediment does no harm.
Which items of equipment should a sommelier have to hand for wine service?
  1. A corkscrew, a clean cloth or napkin, an ice bucket or cooler for chilled wines, a decanter and a light source for decanting, and appropriate glassware
  2. A hammer and a funnel
  3. A kettle and a thermometer only
  4. A blender
Answer: A corkscrew, a clean cloth or napkin, an ice bucket or cooler for chilled wines, a decanter and a light source for decanting, and appropriate glassware. Each item serves a purpose in the sequence: opening, keeping cold, separating sediment, presenting. A thermometer can be useful but is not the core kit.
What happens to a wine stored for a long period in a warm, bright place?
  1. It ages too quickly, losing fresh fruit and developing cooked or oxidised characters, and the cork may be pushed out or leak as the wine expands
  2. It improves faster and becomes more complex
  3. Nothing; wine is unaffected by storage
  4. It becomes sweeter
Answer: It ages too quickly, losing fresh fruit and developing cooked or oxidised characters, and the cork may be pushed out or leak as the wine expands. Heat accelerates every chemical reaction in the bottle and light attacks aromatic compounds, especially in clear glass. A wine that should have lasted a decade can be tired in a year, and a seeping cork is the visible warning sign.
Drill all 48 in the app