On this page, you can review the content of each chapter from the WSET textbook in a practice short written answer question format tailored to the WSET exam style.
This chapter focuses on The Vine.
Question 1
Part 1
Researchers are continually working to develop new grape varieties. Describe the benefits of developing new grape varieties and the major challenges involved.
Benefits:
3 points
Challenges:
2 points
View answer
Answer
Benefits: Developing new grape varieties can produce vines that thrive in specific climates or soils, are resistant to diseases, or offer high yields and superior quality. These characteristics allow growers to cultivate vines that are better suited to their local conditions or more economically viable.
Challenges: The characteristics of new varieties resulting from crossbreeding are unpredictable. Developing a commercially valuable variety requires testing hundreds of seeds, making the process costly and time-consuming.
Grading Criteria
- Benefits:
- For describing traits such as “thriving in specific climates or soils,” “resistance to diseases,” or “high yield and high quality,” award 1 point per trait, up to a maximum of 2 points.
- For explaining that these traits “enable advantageous cultivation in specific climates” or “facilitate economically beneficial production,” award 1 point.
- Challenges:
- For mentioning that “the characteristics of new varieties resulting from crossbreeding are unpredictable,” award 1 point.
- For explaining that this unpredictability leads to “high costs and significant time investment to develop commercially valuable varieties,” award 1 point.
Question 2
Part 1
ith some exceptions, grape-growing regions worldwide face challenges from phylloxera. Explain what phylloxera is and how it damages grapevines.
4 points
View answer
Answer
Phylloxera is an insect native to North America that parasitizes grapevine roots. It damages the roots, allowing infections to enter through the wounds. Over several years, the vine weakens and eventually dies.
Grading Criteria
- For identifying phylloxera as “an insect that parasitizes grapevine roots,” award 1 point.
- For explaining that phylloxera “damages the roots by feeding on them,” award 1 point.
- For stating that “infections can enter through the damaged roots,” award 1 point.
- For describing the impact of infections, such as “the vine weakens over several years and eventually dies,” award 1 point.
Part 2
Explain the only reliable method of addressing phylloxera.
3 points
View answer
Answer
The only reliable method to address phylloxera is to graft Vitis vinifera vines onto rootstocks of phylloxera-resistant American species or hybrids of American species.
Grading Criteria
- For stating that the method involves “grafting Vitis vinifera onto rootstocks,” award 1 point.
- For identifying the rootstocks as being from “American species” or “hybrids of American species,” award 1 point.
- For explaining that these rootstocks are “resistant to phylloxera,” award 1 point.
Have you prepared for the multiple-choice questions?
If not, they could unexpectedly trip you up. Practicing multiple-choice questions not only helps you tackle them effectively but also deepens your understanding of the chapter, benefiting your preparation for the written questions as well.
Click here for the multiple-choice questions for this chapter.