Comments on: Show your work. http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/2008/11/10/show-your-work/ searching for truth in wine Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:05:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: wine sooth » Blog Archive » Party Games http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/2008/11/10/show-your-work/#comment-590 wine sooth » Blog Archive » Party Games Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:07:40 +0000 http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/?p=1071#comment-590 [...] Blind tasting is a fun exercise. But it levels the field the wrong way. Wines should be evaluated in the context of cepage and terroir. This is what Appellation America’s Best of Appellation program is about and it is exactly what I argued for in a recent post. [...] [...] Blind tasting is a fun exercise. But it levels the field the wrong way. Wines should be evaluated in the context of cepage and terroir. This is what Appellation America’s Best of Appellation program is about and it is exactly what I argued for in a recent post. [...]

]]> By: Tish http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/2008/11/10/show-your-work/#comment-521 Tish Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:01:15 +0000 http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/?p=1071#comment-521 You deserve a lot of crdit for sterring the 90-point debate toward science, but I keep wishing you could somehow make it simpler, more direct and more powerful. Can you think of a tasting that would truly test your ideas? If so, perhaps a non-wine magazine/publication/website would cover it. I till believe that one of the insurmountable problems with ratings is the fact that no critic can replicate his/her blind scores with any reliability whatsoever. If you can disprove or prove that using some real people and real wines, it would be some sort of breakthrough and perhaps make waves beyond the circle of Grape Nuts. You deserve a lot of crdit for sterring the 90-point debate toward science, but I keep wishing you could somehow make it simpler, more direct and more powerful. Can you think of a tasting that would truly test your ideas? If so, perhaps a non-wine magazine/publication/website would cover it.

I till believe that one of the insurmountable problems with ratings is the fact that no critic can replicate his/her blind scores with any reliability whatsoever. If you can disprove or prove that using some real people and real wines, it would be some sort of breakthrough and perhaps make waves beyond the circle of Grape Nuts.

]]> By: Morton Leslie http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/2008/11/10/show-your-work/#comment-520 Morton Leslie Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:45:01 +0000 http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/?p=1071#comment-520 Scientific methodology is important in the winery or university laboratory tasting booth. It can be either numeric based on elements of wine character or hedonic. With statistics it gives the wine scientist an tool to use to improve their product or procedures with reproducible results. It is surprising therefore that so few winemakers actually stick to the scientific method. Well, maybe it isn't surprising, because we all have the grapes and phyiscal tools that we need to consistently make wine that is technically sound in a recipe fashion. It might be nice if the wine critic had some knowlege of these tools if only for an appreciation for their own fallibility, but it is not to be. If the winemaker can get by with just a whiff and a judgement, why not the critic? If most wine is technically sound, then the rest is just sizzle that eludes numbers or statistics. The sizzle can be whatever you want to make it out to be. Scientific methodology is important in the winery or university laboratory tasting booth. It can be either numeric based on elements of wine character or hedonic. With statistics it gives the wine scientist an tool to use to improve their product or procedures with reproducible results. It is surprising therefore that so few winemakers actually stick to the scientific method. Well, maybe it isn’t surprising, because we all have the grapes and phyiscal tools that we need to consistently make wine that is technically sound in a recipe fashion.

It might be nice if the wine critic had some knowlege of these tools if only for an appreciation for their own fallibility, but it is not to be. If the winemaker can get by with just a whiff and a judgement, why not the critic? If most wine is technically sound, then the rest is just sizzle that eludes numbers or statistics. The sizzle can be whatever you want to make it out to be.

]]> By: Shea http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/2008/11/10/show-your-work/#comment-518 Shea Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:18:45 +0000 http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/?p=1071#comment-518 Thoughtful post. I think there is a lot of validity to what you say; however, I question the need for scientific methodology in writing about wine. Yes, perhaps if the writing is evaluative - and, particularly, professionally so. However, I think one can establish internal consistency without strict externalized methodology. What is important is, as you mention, to reveal that internal process by being somewhat self-aware. I think with the appropriate caveats a reader can learn from experience how a particular writer approaches his/her subject, and this knowledge can form the basis of thoughtful engagement with the writing. Anyhow, I've written more on wine scoring here, if interested: http://just-grapes.blogspot.com/search/label/Thoughts%20on%20Wine%20Tasting and http://just-grapes.blogspot.com/search/label/Wine%20and%20the%20Aesthetic%20Experience Thoughtful post. I think there is a lot of validity to what you say; however, I question the need for scientific methodology in writing about wine. Yes, perhaps if the writing is evaluative - and, particularly, professionally so. However, I think one can establish internal consistency without strict externalized methodology. What is important is, as you mention, to reveal that internal process by being somewhat self-aware. I think with the appropriate caveats a reader can learn from experience how a particular writer approaches his/her subject, and this knowledge can form the basis of thoughtful engagement with the writing. Anyhow, I’ve written more on wine scoring here, if interested: http://just-grapes.blogspot.com/search/label/Thoughts%20on%20Wine%20Tasting and http://just-grapes.blogspot.com/search/label/Wine%20and%20the%20Aesthetic%20Experience

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