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Wine Reviews

When am I most enthusiastic about wine?

When I’m drinking it of course! Well … most of the time that’s true

Trying a new wine can be a great experience or a complete disappointment, or often some place in between. But at its simplest, you like it or your don’t – its a thumbs up or a thumbs down so to speak.

The often used 100 point scale works, but often its hard to explain why one wine deserves 90 points where another only 89. What qualities of the wine – color, aroma, taste, price, etc. is responsible for the 1 point difference?

So it is with that thought that I will use my own scale (yes .. I know..you’re thinking.. nothing better to do? , and I will try to keep things really simple.

ViralVines Tasting Scale:

Thumbs up means: I recommend this wine

Thumbs down means: I don’t recommend this wine

However, to be fair as well as to provide more details, I am also including the following descriptors in each review:

Epiphany ( Loved it! Top notch wine that inspires. Normally can’t find or afford again:-)
Very Satisfied (The wine made a great impression and has a good quality to price ratio, worth seeking out and always welcome. Many wines may fall into this category. Keep in mind that a good QPR wine that costs $10 will likely not be as ”inspirational” as one costing $20, but both can be very good values. The tasting notes will provide more differentiation)
Satisfied (This is a relatively good every day wine with good QPR. You won’t say “wow” when you drink it, but it is worth buying again at this price point or less)
Ho hum (Not a bad every day wine and would drink again if served, but nothing to get excited about or seek out – sort of “been there / done that”)
Disappointed (based on the price this wine should be much better than it is… not worth it)
Dump it!! (This wine isn’t worth drinking .. tap water would be a huge improvement!

Now that the new rating system is established, its time to apply it!

One caveat: Wines that have major flaws – for example those that have turned to vinegar, have a considerable about of TCA, or are infested with Brettamyces anyone would consider “bad”. However, the absence of these clear flaws, a wine can be rated good or bad, but people may often not agree with a reviewer. Why? Because humans have different likes and dislikes and their sense or sensitivity for taste and smell is different. I have learned over the years to always look to see who a reviewer is, get a sense of what he/she likes or dislikes, and from there decide whether or not I would likely agree or disagree with their wine review.

It is with this spirit that I offer my reviews (my opinion .. yours may differ). You may or may not agree. But as you read various reviews and perhaps have yourself tried the same wines, you can likely get a sense of what you may like based on my notes.

We don’t have to agree – that’s true in politics, religion, and in wine tasting. The important thing however is to have a conversation that benefits all.

Enjoy .. and feel free to comment.

Viralvines…here to talk up the grapes!

Please note: I will always acknowledge if a bottle has been given to me to try (i.e., I didn’t pay for it). I would like to think that this would not influence my review, but human nature being human nature, you should be aware and will be.