{"id":8603,"date":"2021-09-03T16:42:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T15:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/?p=8603"},"modified":"2022-03-29T12:19:34","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T11:19:34","slug":"the-life-of-an-mw-student-ten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/the-life-of-an-mw-student-ten\/","title":{"rendered":"The Life of an MW Student &#8211; Ten"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_flex valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><time class=\"w-post-elm post_date entry-date published\" datetime=\"2021-09-03T16:42:58+01:00\" title=\"3 September 2021 at 16:42:58 Europe\/London\" itemprop=\"datePublished\">5 years ago<\/time><div class=\"w-separator size_small\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h1>THE LIFE OF AN MW STUDENT \u2013 TEN<\/h1>\n<p>The lead up to the Master of Wine Stage One Assessment was marked, for me at least, with a lot of stress. There seemed to be an endless amount of ground to cover, the questions for the theory part of the assessment being drawn from any of the last ten years\u2019 worth of exams. What\u2019s more, the presence of a compulsory question among the three we would be asked meant that we really felt we had to learn EVERYTHING. Of course, we (well, at least I) couldn\u2019t do that, and was relying on a certain amount of luck.<\/p>\n<p>Turning over the question paper when the time came to sit the exam, my heart sank. The compulsory question was: \u2018How does soil influence wine quality\u2019. This was not one of my strong points. I breathed deeply, and tried to get over my disappointment that I would not be able to show off my hard-earned knowledge on topics such as the role of oxygen or temperature in winemaking, or the measures viticulturalists can take to combat frost damage.<\/p>\n<p>So, how does soil influence wine quality? The first thing you need to do when tackling this kind of question is to define soil. This is the sort of thing that sounds very easy until you actually try to do it. Soil is the ground in which a vine grows, composed of organic matter, clay and rock. It anchors the vine, as well as providing its principal source of water and nutrients.<\/p>\n<p>A vineyard soil needs to provide the correct amount of nutrients to the grapevine. If there aren\u2019t enough nutrients available, the vine will shrivel and grapes will not ripen, thus creating a thin, acidic, flavourless wine. But too much and the vine will concentrate on vegetative growth, rather than producing the high quality grapes required for winemaking. In order to grow high quality fruit, a vine needs to be ever so slightly stressed.<\/p>\n<p>The same goes with water. Too much water and the vine enters its vegetative stage, but too little and it can shut down. Irrigation can help to mitigate this, but what about in parts of South Africa and California where drought conditions lead to widespread water shortages? Well, making sure your vines are grown on the right roots will help. Deep roots can help the vine to access water deep underground which it otherwise wouldn\u2019t have been able to reach.<\/p>\n<div>Making sure your rootstock is compatible with your soil type is a key consideration on how the soil influences the quality of the wine you end up producing.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"c9 \">\n<div>There were many other things than these that I wrote about during the hour I spent on this exam question &#8211; some sensible, some less so. Whether the detail was sufficient, the argument clear enough and the key topics covered remains to be seen. Until then, it&#8217;s time to actually enjoy some wine, rather than analysing it! Cheers!<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c3\">\n<div class=\"categories-menu-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium with_line width_default thick_1 style_solid color_text align_center with_content\"><div class=\"w-separator-h\"><i class=\"fas fa-wine-glass\"><\/i><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-post-elm post_author vcard author color_link_inherit with_ava avapos_top\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/author\/owcemily\/\" class=\"fn\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\"><div class=\"post-author-ava\" style=\"font-size:96px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" src=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-96x96.jpg\" class=\"avatar avatar-96 photo\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-96x96.jpg 96w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-24x24.jpg 24w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-48x48.jpg 48w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n.jpg 640w, https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/116377708_608815716686001_1898708497719331632_n-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/div><\/a><div class=\"post-author-meta\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/author\/owcemily\/\" class=\"post-author-name fn\">Emily Silva<\/a><div class=\"post-author-info\">Emily is Head of Retail and Marketing at The Oxford Wine Company. She is also a stage two student on the Master of Wine Programme.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_flex valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"vc_col-sm-12 wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 years agoTHE LIFE OF AN MW STUDENT \u2013 TEN The lead up to the Master of Wine Stage One Assessment was marked, for me at least, with a lot...","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[202],"class_list":["post-8603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oxford_wine_blog","tag-emilysilva"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Life of an MW Student - Ten - Oxford Wine Company<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/the-life-of-an-mw-student-ten\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Life of an MW Student - Ten - Oxford Wine Company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/the-life-of-an-mw-student-ten\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oxford Wine Company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/theoxfordwinecompany\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-03T15:42:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-29T11:19:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emily Silva\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheOxfordWineCo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheOxfordWineCo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emily Silva\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/the-life-of-an-mw-student-ten\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/the-life-of-an-mw-student-ten\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emily Silva\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oxfordwine.co.uk\/owc\/#\/schema\/person\/0218c55a34881e04418f0ddf572efa32\"},\"headline\":\"The Life of an MW Student &#8211; 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