Q: How long is the Harvest Bootcamp, and how much time do I need in Napa?
A: You need five days in Napa. The Bootcamp runs in two phases: a ten-week online preparation phase you complete from home before you travel, then five consecutive days in Napa Valley from 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific, with the official WSET Level 3 examination sat on the fifth day. Book your travel to arrive the evening before day one and depart no earlier than the evening of day five, since the exam occupies that final day.
Q: When is the next available cohort?
A: Bookable dates are shown in the date selector on this page. Places are strictly limited and awarded first come, first served, and this programme routinely sells out a long way ahead - so the next open cohort may be a year or more out. If the date you want shows as unavailable, email support@napavalleywineacademy.com to ask about a waitlist rather than assuming nothing is possible.
Q: Is the WSET Level 3 exam included, and do I sit it in Napa?
A: Yes to both. Your exam registration and fee are included in the price, and you sit the exam in Napa on day five, in a professional invigilated testing environment. This is a real advantage over studying Level 3 online: because the Level 3 exam can only ever be taken in person, online students must arrange a separate trip to an exam location, whereas here the exam is built into the week you have already travelled for.
Q: What is included in the $3,995 price?
A: Your course registration and WSET exam fee, the ten-week online preparation course with a dedicated instructor, the WSET digital textbook with two years of access, the five-day in-person Bootcamp with its workshops and estate visits, lunches on course days, and the winemaker dinner. Group pricing applies when several of you book together: 5% off for two, 8% for three and 10% for four.
Q: What is not included?
A: Travel and lodging are not included, and you should budget for them separately: airfare or ground travel to Napa, your accommodation for the week, breakfasts, and dinners other than the winemaker dinner. Transport is arranged for the scheduled vineyard and cellar visits during the programme. A printed textbook and our Complete Exam Prep Package are optional extras rather than inclusions.
Q: What happens on each of the five days in Napa?
A: Two days of structural tasting and theory workshops, two days of active harvest immersion in vineyards and production cellars plus the winemaker dinner, and the official WSET Level 3 examination on day five. The workshop days are where palate calibration and short written answer drills happen; the harvest days are where the concepts you studied online become physical.
Q: What is the ten-week online phase, and is it optional?
A: It is the academic foundation of the qualification and it is not optional - it is the reason your Napa time can be spent in vineyards rather than in a classroom covering the syllabus. You get immediate access on enrollment to interactive modules, study trackers and mock quizzes, guided week by week by a dedicated NVWA educator who answers your questions. Arriving in Napa without having done it would waste the most valuable part of the programme.
Q: What harvest work will I actually do?
A: It depends on what the vintage is doing that week, and we would rather be honest about that than promise a fixed itinerary. Depending on timing you may be evaluating row orientation and canopy management in premier vineyard sites, observing sorting and pressing on the crush pad, or working in the cellar - barrelling down finished wine, testing brix levels or fermentation temperatures, or taking part in a pump over or punch down. Grapes are an agricultural product and harvest moves every year.
Q: Am I guaranteed to be there during active harvest?
A: Cohorts are deliberately scheduled inside the Napa harvest window, and the winery access is arranged either way, but no wine school can guarantee which specific operations will be running on a given day. An early or late vintage shifts what is happening in the cellar. What is guaranteed is the access itself: working estates, real production cellars, and the winemakers and grape growers who run them.
Q: How is this different from the standard WSET Level 3 course?
A: The qualification and the exam are identical - the difference is everything around them. Our standard Level 3 courses teach the syllabus online or in a Napa classroom; the Bootcamp adds hands-on harvest participation on working estates, vineyard and cellar time with winemakers and growers, a winemaker dinner, dedicated short written answer drills, and the exam sat on site. If your goal is purely the certificate at the lowest cost, take the online or in-person course. If you want the qualification and an insider week in Napa Valley during harvest, this is the one.
Q: Do I need WSET Level 2 before enrolling?
A: WSET sets no mandatory prerequisite, but it recommends the WSET Level 2 Award in Wines or an equivalent level of wine knowledge, and given what this programme costs we would strongly encourage you to be honest with yourself about your starting point. Level 3 assumes you already recognize the major grape varieties and classic regions. All attendees must be at least 21 years of age. If you are unsure whether you are ready, contact us before booking and we will help you assess it.
Q: What is the exam format?
A: Two independently graded components sat on day five: a two-hour closed-book theory paper of 50 multiple-choice questions and four short written-answer questions, and a 30-minute blind tasting of two unlabelled wines assessed using the WSET Level 3 Systematic Approach to Tasting®. You must reach the pass mark in each component separately.
Q: What are the pass mark, Merit and Distinction thresholds?
A: You must score at least 55% in each of the two components independently - a strong tasting result cannot rescue a failed theory paper. Merit is awarded for an aggregate of 65 to 79%, and Distinction for an aggregate of 80% or above with no individual paper below 65%.
Q: What is Napa Valley Wine Academy's WSET Level 3 pass rate?
A: From 3,016 graded sittings between 2023 and 2026, 60.2% of our candidates passed the theory paper and 89.8% passed the tasting. Theory is what fails most Level 3 candidates, which is precisely why this programme devotes dedicated workshop time to short written answer drills rather than assuming the tasting is the hard part.
Q: What happens if I do not pass the exam?
A: You are eligible to resit and you do not need to repeat the Bootcamp, and there is no deadline on the resit. Because the components are graded independently, a partial pass means you only resit the one you failed. Resit fees are $225 for a single component and $280 for both, and resits are sat at any of our in-person exam locations rather than requiring another trip to Napa.
Q: When will I get my results and certificate?
A: Results are issued approximately 10 to 12 weeks after the exam date, because all Level 3 papers are graded at WSET's headquarters in London rather than locally. For exams taken after 17 August 2025, WSET issues digital certificates and badges instead of paper certificates and physical pins. On passing both components you are entitled to describe yourself as WSET Level 3 Certified and to use the WSET logo on your professional materials.
Q: What is the cancellation policy? Please read this before booking travel.
A: Bootcamps carry stricter terms than our standard courses because we commit to winery access and hospitality on your behalf well in advance. You may cancel up to 90 days before the start date, but a $1,500 deposit is non-refundable, as are study materials and exam fees already committed; the remaining balance is issued as store credit. Within 90 days of the start, or once the programme has begun, no refunds are available without documented medical evidence. Bootcamps cannot be transferred to another person or another date. Our General Policies page carries the full terms, and we would rather you read them now than later.
Q: How physically demanding is it, and what should I bring?
A: Expect real work rather than a spectator tour: you will be on your feet on vineyard ground and wet cellar floors, and cellar work can be physical. Bring closed-toe shoes with grip that you do not mind staining, clothes you are happy to work in, sun protection for vineyard time, and something smarter for the winemaker dinner. Your pre-arrival email confirms the specifics for your cohort. Spitting is standard practice throughout, and we recommend planning transport rather than driving after tasting days.
Q: Can I speak to someone before committing?
A: Yes, and at this price with a non-refundable deposit we would much rather you did. Email support@napavalleywineacademy.com and our team will talk you through the two phases, whether your current knowledge suits Level 3, what the week actually asks of you, and whether the standard Level 3 course would serve you better.
