Thoughts 07 - Looking Beyond Wine Scores: The Way We Taste
Reasons We Wine
Why do we taste wine?
Why do we drink wine?
Ever thought about the difference between tasting and drinking?
Why do we drink different wines?
Do you drink different wines?
Do you care what wines you drink?
Why do you care?
Why do some always go back to the same wines?
Why do some only drink wines that are 90+ points?
Whose scores do you follow?
Wines are bottled stories. How many of us share this perspective?
How many bottles end up remembered forever in our memories?
How many bottles end up remembered only as a social media post?
How many bottles end up not remembered at all?
Do we taste and share because of the stories they tell?
Do we taste and share because of the labels and how much they cost?
Do we taste and share because how others look at us?
To Act or Not to Act
Very recently I had a tasting at this winery where we had to drive past a button operated gate. It opened up to more uphill and winding sandy path with rows of vines and we ended up at this nice looking tasting room with a patio tasting area. It all looked good on photos, but I cannot say I had the tasting experience to match due to the level of customer service and the quality of wines. Shortly after we started tasting, this group of young adults sat down at the table beside us. One of the first things I heard they said was “Look, we are so fancy.” While it’s great knowing that the act of wine appreciation make people feel great; I think the entire process is still regarded as a very external activity - how holding a glass of wine or owning bottles with prestigious labels make us look and feel. Unless there’s a way for us to evolve to a higher empathetic being to smell and feel how others do, we can only share our experiences the ways we know how. Or can we do better?
There is also a lot of scrutiny given to people who are relatively new to wine by those who are more seasoned - perhaps the same level is given the exact opposite direction as well (the term wine snobs accompanied with eye rolls comes to mind). Since almost all of the wine appreciation process happens inside a person’s head, the way the wine is perceived is directly related to the level of knowledge and experience the person has. It is very hard for people new to the scene to truly comprehend the amount of investments in time and money required to be called an expert. I think these barriers combined is why people are reluctant to start on the journey, and maybe for the same reason why the industry circle is quite small - I am probably only 2 to 3 degrees of separation away from any other industry professionals in the world.
However, people often forget that you do not need to know everything there is to know about wine in order to talk about wine. How can we be better at sharing that experience with others?
I am often asked a question “What’s your favourite?” My answer is always “I like to explore, but if you have a price point I can always recommend a few you’d like to try.” The answer isn’t based on scores, not based on region, and definitely not based on brand - it’s based on what I know about the person’s preferences and what experiences and excitements these bottles have given me when I listen to the stories they want to tell - with certain relation to how much the bottles are. Having tasted 100 point wines by different renowned critics, they actually do not necessarily tell as enticing stories as wines that do not even make the 90 point mark. While scores do have merit and offer certain level of indication to quality, it is actually very subjective to who the critic is. When there are 100-point wines worth over $1000 and ones that are as little as $150, I really do not believe scores can do these wines justice. So I set out to explore and experiment ways to better tell the stories in a way that is easier for the general public to understand and want to learn more.
Here I attempt to offer both objective and subjective perspectives with my tasting notes in a form of categorized scales. They will continue to evolve based on the feedback I receive:
Primary Scales
These provide a general overview of the quality of the wine at the time of tasting. While I do my best to provide an unbiased assessment of the wines, it would depend on the condition in which the wines were given to me such as how it was stored, when it was opened and temperatures it was poured at etc. The mid point of these scales would be the “Good” zone, the far right being the highest point and far left being the lowest.
Expressiveness
How well it tells the story.
Does it represent the terroir well?
Terroir is a collection of environmental factors that is unique to the wine: Climate, Weather, Soil, Slope, Aspect (where is the slope facing), even common grape growing and winemaking practices.
Does it represent the varieties well?
Grape varieties have different flavour profile and structural characteristics that can be influenced by the environments to which they are grown in.
Intensity
The intensity of the flavours on the nose and on the palate.
Are the flavours well defined or generic?
Are the flavours generic citrus notes or a mix of well ripened orange and lime zest?
Complexity
How complex are the flavours in the primary, secondary, and tertiary categories.
Primary: flavours of the grape variety through fermentation.
Secondary: flavours that come through with winemaking choices such as oak, malolactic, lees, carbonic, intentional oxidation…etc.
Tertiary: flavours that come through when the wines are aged.
Are the flavours in harmony?
Value
Are the wines worth buying for their quality?
The assessment will be based on the local British Columbia market pricing.
Mid point being the price is just right to the wine’s quality so the majority would fall within the mid point zone.
Quantitative Scales
These are more detailed assessments of the wines aiming to provide readers a better idea of what the wines would actually taste like structurally. It will also be accompanied by the flavour profiles.
Sweetness
Is it a sweet wine or a dry wine? It is actually not that black and white.
Some dry wines actually have some residual sugar (RS).
Bone dry would be without any colour fill such as a Zero Dosage Champagne.
Acidity
How much does it make you salivate?
Acidity are keys to add freshness to the wine and to balance the sweetness.
Tannins
Tannins come from the grape skins and give drinkers drying sensations on the gums and on the tongues.
White wines will not have this scale.
In the description, it will also describe the nature of the tannins: smooth, velvety, grippy, ripeness…etc.
Body
The overall mouthfeel of the wine.
Is it like drinking water or cream soup? Skimmed milk or whole milk?
Balance
How well are flavours and structures in balance and working in harmony?
Length
How long do the pleasant flavours last in the finish?
Drinkability
This is to attempt to extrapolate how the wine will improve with age given ideal storage conditions.
This is to mainly identify whether the wine has passed the prime or too early to drink.
More of a guideline rather than a hard rule as some people enjoy younger wines with lots of fresh fruit while others enjoy wines with matured flavours and sophistication.
Accompanied word would be to recommend when the wine will drink well considering the level of flavour maturity and tannins development through age.
Some well made wines will keep for decades with ideal storage conditions but does not mean one should wait that long. Experiment to see what you enjoy the most and put less attention on how others judge you.
Looking Beyond Wine Scores
To go back to the question, why do we drink different wines if not for different experiences they provide us? The way we taste at VinoZen aims to effectively provide more information than the scores can and hope that it will encourage consumers to want to learn more and explore more.
Please provide us your feedback to continue making this better.