What Makes Good Drinks Training And Education With John Callow

In this interview, John Callow discusses the practical realities of delivering professional drinks education as part of his work at the Northern Wine School, where he oversees and teaches a wide range of accredited qualifications across wine, spirits, beer and sake. 

Drawing on his experience as an educator and training provider, John explores how structured learning bodies like the Wines and Spirits Trust (WSET) structure and design courses. The conversation examines the mechanics of drinks education itself: the balance between standardisation and flexibility, training versus learning and development, analytical tasting frameworks, and the growing pressures shaping the sector. 

Thanks for making the time to talk John. In terms of the courses that you're focused on at the moment and your perspective on how it's going within the drink training industry, what are your thoughts? 

Wine courses are buoyant, and that's probably the most established part of the WSET brand. Most people recognise those. The newer courses, like beer, we've just started doing, and that's just starting to pick up. Spirits and beer are a bit more specialist, so they've been a harder sell, especially as people are just starting to get awareness about them.

They're slowly building, but it's interesting to see the uptake. These are very different markets. With spirits and beer, the courses are more industry-focused, whereas wine tends to attract a mix of consumers and trade professionals historically. So we've had to adapt our approach and marketing for different subsets of customers.

Focusing on WSET specifically, is each course rigidly structured, or do training providers have room to add their own interpretation?

There is some rigidity because the core courses and materials are trademarked. They're also Ofqual-regulated, so they have to maintain a fairly strict structure around how exams are run. But all courses follow a similar approach. They use the Systematic Approach To Tasting (SAT), which is the heart of the tasting sessions, adapted for each qualification.

Different people oversee each qualification at WSET, so they have different approaches to who the courses are for and how they're marketed. Some existing students continue onto other courses as they want to learn everything. Others might dislike beer, spirits, or wine, so they wouldn't pursue those courses. Marketing is tricky because different trade customers have different priorities, business models, and expectations.

Since the Northern Wine School is currently the only provider of beer and spirits courses in the north of England, a different course format works well i.e. three days instead of three weeks, as level twos for wine traditionally run. That allows people to stay over instead of commuting back and forth. Trialing different course formats has been interesting.

The materials are fairly standard: level one has a workbook with basic one-day content. Level two has a textbook, workbook, and tasting card. There’s no level three for beer yet, but there is for spirits and sake, which includes a more detailed textbook, workbook, and tasting card. The content layout and revision materials are standardised to help students prepare for exams.

Was SAT created by WSET? 

Yes, it’s trademarked. All courses follow that structure: appearance, nose, palate, conclusions. At higher levels, you make qualitative assessments of a sample based on the SAT framework. The structure is the same across categories, though the terminology and assessment approach differ. For example, assessing wine focuses on complexity and finish, whereas beer and spirits are judged differently. A beer can be high quality without a long finish; it can be well-made and balanced.

The SAT structure is familiar if you’ve done other courses, but the approach to assessing each sample is very different. I don’t teach beer personally; external educators more qualified than I am do that. But the structure remains familiar.

Are there other tasting mechanisms that differ from the SAT, or do most follow that?

All WSET courses follow the SAT. It’s standardised worldwide, so everyone reads from the same framework. Its rigidity is both a strength and a weakness. It’s analytical and methodical, rather than fun and personal. It standardises learning so people understand why samples have particular aromas, flavours, colours, and quality levels. For general consumers, it’s less useful as they’re just enjoying the product. But for professional learning, it reduces subjectivity.

Balancing analysis and enjoyment is tricky. You want students to learn logically, but not make it so analytical that it removes the enjoyment. Students sometimes struggle with describing aromas and flavors because what’s obvious to one person might be meaningless to another. For example, describing a fruit or vegetable might make sense in one region but be completely unfamiliar elsewhere.

If you could balance analytical rigor with a more enjoyable, personal experience, what would that look like?

I’d keep the logical approach but make it more personable and informal. There are reasons aromas, flavors, and quality exist in samples, but breaking down the theory and making it accessible and enjoyable is key. Students new to professional tasting can be unsure about things like acidity, sugar, and tannin levels in wine. The same wine from a different vintage may have completely different characteristics, so teaching has to accommodate that.

It’s about helping students be more specific in tasting notes while keeping it accessible. You want them to pick out a few key characteristics with practice, without overwhelming them. Too much analysis can take the fun out of it, but striking that balance is difficult.

That makes sense. Consumers just enjoy what they like, right. They’re not picking out precise flavours.

Exactly. Most consumers enjoy it or they don’t. They buy it and drink it.

How do you differentiate training versus learning and development in drinks education?

It depends on the approach and what the student wants to achieve. If an employer is paying, it depends on their goals too. Blended learning works best because everyone learns differently. WSET materials are dry and factual, but concise. The Wine Scholar Guild adds history, local foods, cultures, and traditions, which makes courses interesting but can overwhelm students. People often get anxious because they’re unsure what’s required for the exam.

What implementation techniques do you recommend for retaining skills after courses?

Continue tasting and drinking. Trade tastings are useful as they often include seminars and guided tastings from experts and winemakers. Many are open to students even if they’re not in the trade. 

Certified courses by organisations like the IWC or Champagne bodies are also useful, offering online resources, regional courses, and exams. These are more up-to-date than diploma courses from ten years ago.

Are there always new developments in wine or spirits that require keeping current?

They change very quickly, especially in wine. WSET books are updated every two to three years for most qualifications, and the more advanced qualifications every five years. Even then, a newly published edition can already be out of date because developments are happening all the time.

For example, Bordeaux has recently approved twelve new grape varieties to adapt to the challenges of climate change. Winemakers are now focusing on what consumers want, which is vibrant, youthful, accessible wines, rather than heavily oaked, aged traditional styles, which aren’t fashionable anymore. This includes wines like vermouth, which are popular in cocktails and help bring in a different crowd.

These changes are as much about climate adaptation as they are about style. Bordeaux, for instance, is now officially considered a warm climate region. Over the last ten years, average temperatures have risen, which has created problems for grapes like Merlot that ripen quickly. Wines from these grapes have had very high alcohol levels, and it may no longer be practical to grow some of the traditional varieties. That’s why they’re looking at other grape varieties to replace ones that have been around for hundreds of years.

Overall, many traditional wine regions face challenges from climate change, market forces, and declining volumes of wine sold worldwide. They have to adapt constantly, and often more quickly than printed course materials reflect. That’s where online resources from professional wine bodies become really useful because they provide current information on trends, stats, and practices in wine regions.

For trainers facilitating courses, what are best practices to engage students while following structured material?

Read your students. You’re there to help them learn and enjoy the experience, not lecture. Gauge their reactions and see if you’re providing too much or too little information. Engage openly with questions. Keep learning yourself and stay up to date. Don’t make things up. It’s okay to admit when you don’t know everything. 

Most educators are generalists. Even Masters of Wine specialise and they don’t know everything about everything. Be open and honest. Oh, and definitely avoid perpetuating the stuffy stereotype of wine educators.

Well, I can say that your training style is the farthest thing from stuffy John when you did my sake training and you’re one of the most down to earth people I’ve met.  How do you see digital learning and AI impacting drinks education?

AI is a great tool if fed correct information. I might use it for ideas for LinkedIn or email content but only after seeing that the information I’ve got back is verifiable and relevant. AI can present nonsense as facts if not checked. Tools like ChatGTP are how Wikipedia used to be in its early days when it wasn’t always considered credible. Wikipedia today now has strong verification processes.

AI can be helpful for learning if it’s curated carefully. Critical thinking and research remain essential. Search engines may become less relevant as people use AI to find answers directly. Businesses visible through AI will benefit. AI can be a useful resource if applied correctly.