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WSET Level 2 Grape Varieties Practice Questions

Name the grape behind the wine, and its structure and flavour usually follow.

By gjdrinkerFiled 12 Jul 2026Free 5 sample questionsWSET L2 practice

Grape variety is the backbone of WSET Level 2, and it is also where a lot of easy marks are won and lost. If you can name the dominant grape behind a classic wine, you can usually reason your way to its structure and flavour, because so much of a wine's character starts with the variety.

The exam rarely asks you to recite a list. It asks you to connect a grape to a place, a style, or a set of tasting notes, often from an unfamiliar angle. That is why rote memorisation only takes you so far. You need to know Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Gamay and the rest well enough to recognise them however the question is framed.

The five questions below cover common variety traps: wines named for a place rather than a grape, two names for one grape, and a crossing bred for a specific climate. Read each explanation for the reasoning, not just the answer. The point is to build the intuition that lets you handle a variety you have not seen phrased that way before.

Five sample questions

Answers and explanations sit with each question. Try to reason it out before you read the explanation, since the wrong answers are where the learning happens.

Sample question 1Learn · Grape varieties

Which grape is used in Barolo?

  1. ASangiovese
  2. BNebbiolo✓ Correct
  3. CMerlot
  4. DTempranillo
Answer · B · Nebbiolo

Barolo is one of the few great reds made from a single grape, and that grape is Nebbiolo. The name refers to the place in Piedmont, not the variety, which trips up candidates who expect the label to name the grape. Nebbiolo gives high acid, firm tannin and the tar and roses aromatics that make Barolo recognisable once you have met it.

Sample question 2Learn · Grape varieties

Beaujolais Cru wines are made primarily from which grape?

  1. AGamay✓ Correct
  2. BPinot Noir
  3. CGrenache
  4. DCarignan
Answer · A · Gamay

Every Beaujolais Cru is Gamay. The Crus are the ten named villages at the top of the Beaujolais hierarchy, and while the entry-level wines can taste simple, the Cru sites give Gamay real structure. Expect fragrant red fruit, light to medium body and low tannin, the profile Gamay holds onto wherever it is grown.

Sample question 3Learn · Grape varieties

Which grape is the backbone of Chianti Classico?

  1. ASangiovese✓ Correct
  2. BNebbiolo
  3. CAglianico
  4. DMontepulciano
Answer · A · Sangiovese

Chianti Classico is built on Sangiovese, which must dominate the blend by law. Sangiovese brings high acidity, savoury red cherry and a tomato-leaf herbal note that is a useful marker in a blind line-up. When you meet a high-acid Italian red with sour cherry and grip, Sangiovese should be your first guess.

Sample question 4Learn · Grape varieties

California Zinfandel is genetically identical to which Italian grape variety?

  1. ASangiovese
  2. BNebbiolo
  3. CPrimitivo✓ Correct
  4. DBarbera
Answer · C · Primitivo

Zinfandel and Primitivo are the same grape confirmed by DNA, grown in California and in Puglia in southern Italy respectively. Both ripen to high sugar in warm climates, which is why the wines run to high alcohol, ripe brambly fruit and a jammy edge. Knowing the pairing lets you reason across two regions from one flavour profile.

Sample question 5Learn · Grape varieties

Pinotage, South Africa's signature red, is a crossing of which two grape varieties?

  1. APinot Noir and Cinsaut✓ Correct
  2. BCabernet Sauvignon and Merlot
  3. CSyrah and Grenache
  4. DPinot Noir and Syrah
Answer · A · Pinot Noir and Cinsaut

Pinotage is South Africa's own crossing, made in 1925 from Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. It was bred to combine Pinot's quality with Cinsaut's heat tolerance and reliable ripening. The result is a bold, deeply coloured red with dark fruit and a smoky, sometimes coffee-like character that marks it out.

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