There is no more derisive topic in the world of wine than scores.  You either love them or hate them.  The subject has been well argued and like so many of life’s quandaries we fear the “right” answer is not forthcoming.  But scores are a bellwether when looking for a source to evaluate or purchase wine.  How an organization approaches scores says a lot about their approach to wine.

PROTOCOL wine studio has some thoughts on this subject:

Scoring as Inevitable:

By serendipitous means the fermented grape was first brought to our tables.  But as the demand for wine grew and styles evolved, so was born another fine tradition, that of the wine critic.  With two glasses in hand, a different wine in each, there would be those who would come and listen to the words of this “sage” for he was known to say which was the better of the drink.

And there you have it, as with all art, the critic follows closely behind.  The evolution of the 100-point system was natural, even anticipated.  And as styles and technology evolved, so has the practice of wine evaluation.  But all critics suffer from the same dilemma: how do I communicate my opinion of this wine in the simplest terms?–Because (and let’s face it) most consumers don’t take the time to read and interpret the pontifications of critics.

Perhaps the first expression of wine scores was as simple as thumbs up or thumbs down.  This is the most efficient form of critique, but even Siskel and Ebert must find the cruel simplicity of this evaluation restrictive.  And so the system has expanded, eventually resting on the natural scale of 100.  In short, if Parker had not adopted the 100-point system when he did, someone else would have.

Understand the Impact: 

Scores are here and they’ve made an impact.  It’s important for the wine professional to understand this when making buying decisions.

Perhaps the most glaring example of scores changing winemaking styles is in Bordeaux.  Beginning with his lauded evaluation of the 1982 vintage, Robert Parker made his mark.  Thirty years later everything from micro-oxygenation in winemaking to skyrocketing futures prices can be traced back to Parker’s influence.

Understanding this influence and more importantly understanding how your client will perceive the results of this influence is critical.  In short how we feel about Parker is irrelevant when making buying decisions for our clients.  The true question is how does the consumer feel?

If Joe consumer loves fruit bombs and high scoring wines, we can accommodate that passion.  Just as important, if the same consumer is open to learning about old-word style and grace, then we can leave the world of scores and fruit extraction aside for a more funky ride.

Using the Toolbox:

The well-appointed toolbox has many instruments.  Delicate ones for fine work and severe ones for more extreme circumstances.  If knowledge of the Grand Cru system in Burgundy is the fine bit drill, then surely wine scores are the hammer!  If one chooses the hammer at every turn, perhaps a course in refinement is long overdue.  Likewise the toolbox without a hammer is definitely incomplete.

The true professional is not necessarily judged for the tools he brings to the table, but for the quality of his work.  Our ultimate business goal is to sell wine.  We prefer to achieve this via cultural context.  Let us expound from our prospective.  As wine professionals, we are tasked with searching out good wine.  We are Sommeliers, which means we have been trained to assess a wine’s soundness.  We look for wines that our customers would like (accounting for varying palates) and that we know we can sell for particular reasons.  This is the critical function of our work, and scores may well be a part of this consideration.

But there’s an essential next step we call it: The Hunting.  There has to be a story behind a glass of wine for us to really get behind it.  As human beings we make connections with others in many different ways.  We want to hear about the family behind the bottle, the farm and vineyard and for goodness tell us about the dogs on the property.  As professional wine buyers we are always hunting, looking for that story.  In this element of our work, tradition, culture and poetry take center stage.  There is no consideration for scores when hunting.

Conclusion:

At PROTOCOL wine studio, we propose a different way:  loyalty, honesty and integrity in wine buying.  The story behind the wine is most important, the social aspect; the wine itself becomes part of that whole experience.  But scores must be part of the intelligent wine professional’s buying decision.  But be wary, sometimes scores will help us to determine what we don’t want as much as what we do want.  Knowing the difference in the mind of your customer is the key.

Tina and Guy
Partners, PROTOCOL wine studio

Tune to #winechat Wednesday 1 August for a complete discussion.

Multi-faceted.

It means we need value and often times it includes a deal. In short, the day of the deal is here. Want more proof? Costco, love ‘em. First 20 years – no problem. Now, I get e-mail on deals, coupons books in the mail for more deals, for both in-store and online only deals. They have increasingly put their wares in front of us because it is what works. Part of it is real, the other part perception – stay with me here.

If someone says “Let’s Make a Deal” you might get a little excited that there’s an opportunity of limited availability and if it’s something you want – and you have the coin – you’re in. But it REALLY has to be DEAL.

So many items I have seen on sale at one store, are available at another store – not on sale – for less! This creates a funk in how consumers feel about you. The key is to largely control how your brand is being sold to prevent from being undersold. At WineMatch, we present all the facets to the consumer. We present not only the many different sides of wine with data provided and verified from multiple sources, but also present the deal so the consumer can see all the facets of the value proposition!

I think I can hear Monty Hall now!

Here’s what’s right. Good hardworking people that don’t know a time clock. This is because as the day winds down, either the job is done, or we sit down from exhaustion to nap a moment and wake up some seven hours later on the couch! The wine by and large is all too good as well. Innovative blends, creative bottles and labels, and someone always glad to see you in the tasting room. Simply put, we have great folks with great products. As a matter of reference, this was the time clock I punched when I worked for Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, so I guess I’m no longer 18 years old!

When I embarked on this project that has become WineMatch some six years ago, the dream was of helping the consumer find the right bottle. You know, reduce the “hit-to-miss” ratio and be right on target at least eight out of ten times when selecting a wine. My own personal inability to select a wine I liked most of the time was at the heart of it all.

To get started on my journey, I spent time with some twenty-five wineries in Oregon, Washington and California. These wineries are still with the program today and represent a cross-section of various sized wineries. Heck, at one point I tried to define what a Boutique Winery was, which is truly subject to the area. What is considered boutique in California is a large winery in Oregon – go figure! At the end of the day, it was about winery perspectives and a lot of them. When asked to look at our wheel and comment, they would say “It’s great and we love it, but how are you going to change those that embrace the 100-point system?” The answer was a simple one – “Because it hurts many wineries, does not represent the wine as a multi-faceted product, and the consumer is confused“.

I also asked what I could do to help them. This single answer resonated the most, “Help Us Sell More Wine Directly to the Consumer!” When I asked why, the reasons were simple.

Stop the presses. The last item makes a lot of sense. In fact, isn’t that exactly what wine clubs are all about?

Folks, it really comes down to how you market your brand and your wines. It’s about the best use of time, people, and money – and avenues. Here’s what I hear from the wineries.

Connecting with vintner and other associations meets often times mixed results, but some exposure will always come at a cost.

The additional cost of applying to being a “public” tasting room to me is ridiculous, like “why would we make wine if we weren’t planning on selling it to folks through every possible venue?“

Events. Many wineries hold fun events to gather multitudes of folks ready for a wine-immersed experience with good food and good people. Ceja is always cooking something up here and DeLille Cellars does cruises if money is not scarce.

Getting placed in restaurants and retailers is always key to a consumer having a connection to the brand and specific wine offering, but the profit isn’t always very good here.

Wineries submitting wines in competitions to have those shiny ribbons and hoping those frequenting the tasting room will parallel that to winning a Gymkhana.

100-point Ratings. Submitting to those rating via the 100-point system is down, as thankfully people are learning better ways to increase their “hit-to-miss” ratio. Wineries are hoping for some press on that end – but that door swings two ways, like a saloon door.

Web Site and related Maintenance. Always a tough one here. You need a presence, yet if designed improperly or used improperly, the ongoing costs will simply kill you. Something requiring proper design and management to be certain!

Social Media. All that public facing one-on-one and many-to-one communications. Clearly you need to have a presence, but how much you put into it has to be compared with the return of other methods.

As with any marketing effort, the question begs “Is this really the best use of time and money?” Folks, at WineMatch, we help wineries and consumers alike. No cost to the consumer and very low cost to the winery with a ton of exposure, where loading deals and events are always free and are pushed out to the consumer, as are the self-printing QR coded shelf talkers where the winery indicates where the QR Code should point. All from the comfort of your facility and all your wines will get pushed out via social media and through our own RSS feed. To wineries, we believe this to be the best use of your marketing dollar in reaching the consumer.

As a consumer, you’ll love it! Sign up, it’s free, and you get to select what you do and don’t want to receive from us so we’re giving you exactly what you want, and no more than what you’ve asked to receive. So maybe you want deals, but not events, but also want to see matches, using 16 to 20 different wine characteristics. No problem – as it’s all easily tailored to your wishes. To get started, sign in using WineMatch, your facebook or twitter account. Then browse wines and add them to your favorites letting WineMatch work for you.

After all, without the consumer, the winery would not exist! And without the winery, WineMatch would not exist – and we never forget that!

WARNING: Before you answer that question, have these thoughts in mind and a cold one in hand.

1. Is there anyone really helping represent all my wines and my winery?
2. Is there anyone that helps market my wines, without looking for a few bucks from each bottle in return?
3. Is there anyone that is representing wines in a non-100 point system win/lose scenario?
4. Does anyone help push my wine information to Social Media when it’s published so people know about my wines?
5. Is there anyone trying to educate consumers?
6. Can anyone introduce my wines to people that like similar wines?
7. Is there anyone that can push deals on my wines and target it to consumers that like similar wines – and for free?
8. Is there anyone that lets consumers that like my wines know about my events - and for free?
9. Does anyone out there publish my wine to coincide with my release date?
10. Can anyone work as a true partner to help me market my wine better?

Alright, now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, I am going to ask you one more questions and here it is. “Do you feel that every rating being done can create a winning scenario for your wines?” At WineMatch, it’s all about representing the wine and winery for what they are, not what they aren’t. There is no negative speak here, just wine. Without further adieu, here’s my Top Ten list of why you should join WineMatch:

I Thou shalt make sense on every level
II It shall not take much hourglass time (3 minutes per wine)
III Thine cost shall be minimal at $100 or less per wine (and the first one is always free!)
IV Thy entire wine-drinking kingdom shall benefit
V Thou shalt represent all your wines and your winery
VI Thou shalt maximize your outfacing exposure
VII Thou shalt integrate facebook, twitter and RSS feeds for all wines
VIII Thou shalt place a fully qualified value proposition for your wine in front of a highly-qualified consumer - yes, really!
IX Thine wines shall be published on their release date (not a miracle!)
X Thou shalt not speak ill of thy wine by using the 100-point system

This day in age, one must consider all the factors when entertaining something new. I believe that WineMatch is a better and further-reaching tool than so many others – without a downside. It’s current in look, feel and appropriate the proper use of current technology and social media. And we’ve only just begun.

The newer consumer demographics demands you provide them with more information and they will make the judgment call. They are smart, know what they want and like, and want a deal on it.

Time to get on the chariot, the WineMatch chariot! Can I get an Amen?

My ratings don’t quite work that way.

If I ever run a wine mag I will do all my scoring like this.

I do my best, with the very limited expertise at my disposal, to rate wines based on objective (or quasi-objective) factors like complexity of flavours, overall balance and structure (whether the acidity, tannins, alcohol and other elements of the wine are all in sync and don’t overwhelm one another), length of finish, etc., and if a particular bottle is a well-made example of a certain style, I will certainly try to mention that, even if the style in question isn’t my favourite.  But I don’t pretend that the scores I give wines in this blog are anything other than the overall evaluation that my own palate makes of a specific bottle.  If I like or dislike a wine for “objective” reasons, I will try to spell them out, but if it just doesn’t subjectively do it for me, it may get a lower score here than in other, more reputable sources.  But I can only write what I know, and I’m hoping that I won’t needlessly slag too many wines just because I don’t like them, since there aren’t really a whole lot of styles of wine that I dislike (unless they’re 18% alcohol or just, well, suck).

You will have also noticed by now that I am scoring the wines I drink on the now-ubiquitous 100-point scale.  I’m actually not the hugest fan of this scoring system, because only on the rarest occasions involving the very worst wines do you ever see a professional wine reviewer score a wine below 80 points.  Why have a scale if you don’t use 4/5ths of it?  If 49% is a failing grade in every school I’ve ever been to, why is 79% a failing grade in the world of wine?  Do the reviewers not want to hurt people’s feelings?  Do they think that every wine has 78+ points out of 100 worth of redeeming quality in it?  I have no idea.  And yet I’m still using this bizarre, flawed scale in PnP, because it has come to have a generally-accepted meaning that most people reading up about wine come to understand.  Roughly speaking, this meaning, which forms the basis of my personal scoring system on this site, is something like:

• Under 80 points: Horrible, embarrassing wine fail.  Burn all your vines and go back to school to learn how to do something else.
• 80-85 points: Definitely not good, but not totally, abjectly awful.  I’m not impressed, but if the wine is really cheap, I might overlook (most of) its flaws.
• 85-89 points: Now we’re getting somewhere.  More interesting, more high-quality, more serious, more oomph.
• 90-95 points: Fantastic, complex, thoughtful, impressive juice.  Honour roll wines.
• 95-99 points: Classic, unbelievable, collectible wines to be cellared and opened only on special occasions or if you’re made of money.  The creme de la creme.
• 100 points: The Platonic ideal of wine.  Not sure if I’ll ever see one in my life, but never say never…

So there you have it.  Wine Spectator might put it in slightly different terms, but I think we all get to the same place in the end.

Things like people and wines are probably misrepresented or misunderstood more often than not and often, it ends up being our ultimate loss. Remember this – you can’t tell a book by its cover! But how many times have we all been surprised by someone we didn’t think we would like, but then once we got to know them, we really liked them. It’s simply because we cut through the appearance and got to what is truly important- substance!

Let’s start with the ‘people’ example. Think about it. Guys, let’s go back to High School days – gals, bear with me here. In high school, a ‘ten’ would likely be a girl with certain features, mostly physical ones like hair, eyes, build, face and even what she wore. Yes, it was shallow and really did not represent the entire person as so many other aspects were never considered. It was easier to gaze and judge from a distance than get serious about the entire person. Face it, when we were sixteen we knew it all, right?

Fast forward and I’m another 30 years older (and way better looking). First off, where did the time (and hair) go? Ok, now let’s see what a ‘ten’ is now. OMG, it’s way different from this vantage point! I am actually going to tell you something about this person you cannot tell from a distance. She has to be an honest person with integrity, trustworthiness, ethics, her heart in the right place, got my back, a loving mother and wife, believes in me, and is pretty. Ok, now I have a picture in my mind, but I had to get up close and personal to get this information. By the way, I got so close on this one I have two daughters

Now let’s move on to the wine example. Giving wine a single number is truly a disservice to the industry it serves. Yeah, I know we all want the ‘short’ version, but one ‘number’ not only does not fit all, but does not tell you anything about the wine, especially the substance. It can be one person’s opinion, a few folks’ opinions, but unless you do your homework, you’ll never know. And frankly, who has the time?

What if someone invented a system where ‘bad speak’ through low numbers and often inconsistent and misinterpreted single number ratings went away and characteristics of wine were displayed in a simple-to-interpret format? Well, it’s your lucky day and here’s the point going back to the title. I could actually go through WA, WE and WS, look at the scores and come up with what the critics think are the ten worst wines. But what meaning would this list have? Let’s examine the net effect.

Wineries – Sales for wineries making these wines would definitely get hurt, not to mention your reputation. Heck, anyone can have a bad year. I have had a few myself but folks still love me. It could be because of frost, weather, a custom crush gone bad, storage issues and on. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water here!

Consumer – Hopefully from a memory perspective, most folks are not like me. I remember car license plates from when I was a kid in the 60’s like SQU 784 – my dad’s 66 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88. Although I don’t consciously try to remember them, my brain just won’t let them go – probably one of my many defects. Anyways, if you read these raters’ publications, and you see a 70’s score for a wine, you almost cringe and want to know who the poor folks are that got this beating. If you feel badly, imagine how they must feel!

At WineMatch we get up close and personal with the wine and share what is verified to be true to paint a picture (on the WineMatch Profile Wheel) of what we believe this wine represents in the area of major characteristics. No single number could ever do a wine justice any more than it could for a person. Multiple wine data sources like sensory, chemistry and winery data are all sanitized and verified before presenting to the consumer. Then, wines with similar characteristics are matched and then, and only then, relevant and desired data regarding similar wines in addition to related deals and events are pushed out to the consumers. How about them grapes?

Here there are no bad wines, just different ones. Some wines you like a lot, others not so much. Same with people. WineMatch can help you with the wine ones!

And by the way, you still need people to open the wine!

Robert Parker Jr.

It’s a bittersweet loss for many, as Robert Parker Jr. has announced his tire-bouchon is being passed to a respected associate in the rating of California wines. There is no doubt in my mind that Robert Parker has been THE most influential wine critic of our time. The Anton Ego of wine if you will, who was modeled after Francois Simon Le Figaro, a feared restaurant critic. Robert Parker is now probably enjoying ratatouille or boeuf bourguinion with Remy as his chef. Bon appetit!

He created the 100-point system that although I don’t necessarily agree with today, what cannot be denied was the influence this system had on an industry with no previous neutral or 3rd party ratings. In a word, huge. The flaws in the system were mainly that others would come up with a similar scale with a different interpretation. Hence, the confused consumer as the very same wine is being portrayed as a 82, 88 and 92. Robert Parker was both respected and feared by winemakers all over the world, as he became the first true “authority” in a wine rating world. I always respected that he did not turn into selling advertising for $40k a page as others have done, but truly stuck with what was important – the wine. Not once did I think Robert Parker was strictly money-motivated and in this day in age, which speaks well of his persona. In a word, he had passion for what he did – like it or not.

Cuvaison 2009 Chardonnay Carneros

In this first example, the wine being offered for sale is a 2009 Cuvaison Chardonnay from Carneros (on the Napa side). There is absolutely no reference to this vintage year, and there is a 2008 WS rating of 87 and and a 2007 WE rating of 92. Folks, let me be clear here. What information is here tells you NOTHING AT ALL about the wine you are considering purchasing as the wine for sale is of the 2009 vintage. In simple terms, two things are seriously wrong here. First is it lacks ANY RATING for the vintage that is being offered for sale. Secondly, you are using two differerent rating outfits for the two preceding years, which also renders the data less credible. Also, just whose comments are those underneath it?

Louis Martini 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon

If one or more of the rating outfits’ numbers are visibly absent, one of two scenarios exists here. The first scenario is they simply did not rate the wine. The other scenario is that they rated it lower, so that gets conveniently omitted from the store shelf-talker. It’s important when buying things to get the truth and the whole truth, for that is what ultimately successful decisions are based upon. It’s truly not apples-to apples as these raters are all different outfits all with a different way of doing things. Therefore, it would make infinitely more sense for retailers to contract with one of these outfits to have some degree of consistency. Also to me, it’s important to know when it was rated as a point of reference so I know if I am buying it one month or two years after the rating. Knowing this enables me to make a judgment call of the aging effect in a retail store environment. Wineries care for the wines differently as it’s considered much like offspring with the exception it does not put the wine through college!

BevMo "Vineyard Partners"

Folks, you have effectively lost the consumer!

At WineMatch, we try to keep it simple and have checks and balances. The amount of time I see folks trying to pick out a wine they will enjoy is excessive when compared to the success rate. Surely I am not alone in my thinking here…

By the way, you probably guessed it – the consumer was yours truly in 1997, before I started on my quest to create a better system.

I think I’ll call it WineMatch

Case in point is the outdated 100-point system for rating wine. It is beyond me why WA, WE, and WS publish ratings below 88, but I have a few points and a couple different angles here. Before I go too far, you need to know I am not 25 years old and was raised with ‘if you did not have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’

I firmly believe that they believe they are doing us (consumers) a favor by publishing all wines. This theoretically allows us to read all their ratings. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I just can’t spend that amount of time in the bathroom to go from cover to cover, which is why the iPhone and Droid were created. In life, I seek “the short list” or contenders for consideration as my time remains at a premium. I think we’re all in the same boat here. Speaking of boats, here’s what I think an ’88′ looks like!

Oldsmobile '88'

There would appear to be two main reasons why they publish all the ratings. First would be that they want to leverage all the information they gathered. I get that. But the other reason may be to fill the pages of a publication, at a cost not only to the consumer of having to peruse through a lot of non “short list” information to sort out the perceived gems. Another theory is that maybe they were perhaps a bit unsure with their ratings (face it, they rarely agree on the numbers) and perhaps the consumer can pull out from the descriptors that a wine, not highly-rated numerically, has those characteristics and fruit and aroma notes they seek. But here is where the ’88′ rubber hits the road.

The number 88 is THE number that says there is just something not right with the wine and it could or should have been better. THIS HURTS THE WINERY AND CONFUSES THE CONSUMER. Why would you want to do that? Isn’t that ‘bad speak’? Let me reiterate the food chain here for clarity. WA, WE, WS would not exist if it weren’t for wineries – PERIOD. So why would you speak badly about the hand that feeds you? I fail to see the purpose here.

Look, I am not going to pontificate and tell the consumer or winery all wines are good. We know that’s simply not true. But here is my dilemma. Say you’re a winery owner. Harvest was tough, had some changes of personnel, some barrel issues and the wine just doesn’t shine. You know it, your wife knows it, the folks at the winery know, maybe even the winery dog knows it. You’re mentally down as you know it’s gonna hurt your reputation and your wallet. Then the ratings come out and one of them give you an 83 or something like that, telling the whole world. Seriously, did you need to be kicked while you were down? Folks, this is the net effect of ratings of 88 and lower, but here’s the real clincher.

They could and often times are missing what folks like in a wine. Only yesterday, I spoke to a winery owner who sold out of what one trade rag had rated as an 83. He stated that everyone who came into the tasting room not only loved it, but the wallets opened up and they left carrying their gem. This reminds me of movie ratings. If the critics like it, I usually don’t and the reverse holds true as well.

Critics are just that, critics. They are trained to look for what’s wrong. At WineMatch, we look for what’s right and represent the wine for what it is, not for what it’s not. As in the 83 example above, a whole lot of folks found what was right. I am also thankful my wife sees me for what’s right with me, not dwelling on where I fall short as that would be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. A big baby at that!

Folks, I believe it’s time for a change and we hope to be the leaders and champions of that change. Look at wine differently. WineMatch may not be the perfect answer, but it’s clearly a step in the right direction – and we don’t hurt wineries!

Follow me on this:

One thing that keeps coming up in my line of work is people’s expressed anxiety when it comes to tasting wine. People want to know how to taste and what to taste. They read glowing reviews about a particular wine with words like acacia and elderflower and want to understand how to be on that level feeling that if they just had the same ability then they would truly be able to appreciate wine.

You do have the same ability. You have a nose. You have an olfactory bulb. You have an orbital frontal lobe. You have a passion for wine. You are ready to go.

There are three categories of tasters. There are non-tasters, medium tasters and super-tasters. These categories have nothing to do with training or profession but science. Everyone has a different amount of taste buds spread across their tongues. It is all about genetics. You will fall into one of the three categories based on your genetic makeup.

According to The Science of Wine From Vine to Glass by Jamie Goode (wine guru, plant biologist and wine geek extraordinaire) says that about half the populations are medium tasters, 25% are non-tasters and the other 25% are the super-tasters.

Point system be damned.

And now medals…

I just came across an article about a four-year study on wine judges abilities to be consistent at wine fairs. Along with the tarnished 100-point system we often read that such a wine received a silver medal or a gold medal at a tasting.

This was, “a four-year study of judging decisions at the California State Fair Wine Competition by retired Humboldt State professor Robert Hodgson.”

Mr. Hodgson has a small winery himself and was perplexed that wine was sent off to fairs one fair would give it medals and others nothing, “It seemed like a gold medal was just a matter of luck.”

Check this out:

“In a study published Wednesday by the Journal of Wine Economics…only 10% of the judges were able to consistently give the same rating, or something very close, to the identical wine sampled multiple times in a large blind tasting.”

It really is a bit obvious but the media has done such a great job of telling us what wine is good and what wine is inferior to the good wine that we are still trying to figure out what we as individuals like.

How can we expect to believe a bottle deserves a gold medal when that wine is the judge’s 100th contestant. Can you say palate fatigue?

Wine is more popular than it ever has been. I have a wine club that I talk to once a month and the numbers of the club are getting bigger. Not because of the East Village Wine Geek (we have a so much fun) but because there is a thirst out there for more knowledge of this amazing, ancient craft. If that thirst, that need is still there after all these years then the point system has failed us in a one blaringly major way. It has not allowed us to think for ourselves.

You might read a review about a bottle that sounds great but when you pop, pour, swirl and sip is not as satisfying. The person writing the piece is a taster on a level you do not know. You could be a different type than them. They could be medium and you could be super. If this is the case then you are more sensitive to the subtleties of the wine and are therefore do taste more than the reviewer and as a result you might not enjoy it as much because of your amplified ability to taste wine.

In the end it is not very realistic.

What is real is human interaction. Someone looking you in the eye and saying with confidence this is the bottle for you based on what you are explaining to me.

Also, blogs are real. Not the major publication blogs but the people that are spending their hard earned money on the wine themselves and taking the risk for you.

I wish I could climb to the top of wine lover’s mountain and scream at the top of my lungs with passion and confidence:

“WINE TO THE PEOPLE!!”

Find people that want to share their wine knowledge with you not the people that are going to tell you all they know and then give a score and walk away. Demand to walk away with knowledge.

No question is stupid. If you don’t know what cinsaut (pronounced “san-so) is you have a right to ask and not looked down upon. Wine merchants are there to guide you in the right direction. I mean you are fuel their business for chrissakes they better being throwin’ down some serious respect by truly expressing what they think about a particular bottle.

Try to ignore the medals and the points. It is really all about hand selling. The proof is in the pudding…or in the bottle. Cheers.