A PERSONAL NOTE: My apologies in advance to a number of good friends and colleagues who are still trying to get wine profile systems to work. But, as you read on, my hands-on experience and further research leads me to believe that the system has inherent problems that will prevent it from reaching the potential […]
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Welcome to the Vino Casino
The Casino. (The House Always Wins) Buying wine is a lot like walking into a casino. You know the odds favor the house, but the gamble is worth it to find a good bottle of wine to enjoy. THE GAMBLE IS LIKE POKER As gambles go, wine wagering is a bit like poker where luck […]
GENETICS: How Inherited Taste Sabotages Recommendations
See also this update: Genetic science shows why wine reviews and taste profiles miss the target for recommendations Some people hate the taste of raw tomatoes. Others get positively hostile if you try to feed them cilantro. Broccoli bashers abound. Liquorice loathers understandably shy away from foods seasoned with fennel and anise seed. What does […]
SCALING: Most Wines Have NEVER Been Rated By Critics
UPDATE, August 18, 2020: New data from a highy respected source: 116,000+ new wine products approved by TTB in past 12 months: bw166. Consumers who try to rely upon wine ratings to make purchase decision are often thwarted by the widespread absence of reviews. For that reason, I’ve been trying to figure out about […]
MISINTERPRETATION: Words = Big Trouble
Words can mean different thing to different people. What does “complex” mean? Or “balanced?” “Big?” “Olive-tinged black currant?” “I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’ ” Alice said. Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’ ” “But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down […]
INCONSISTENCY: Rating The Rating Systems
How you ask a question can determine the answer you get. The concept lies at the heart of journalists, scientists, those who interview job candidates, police detectives, opinion pollsters … and wine ratings. In many settings — especially those where the vino-cognoscenti gather — the question, “What did you think of that wine?,” will frequently […]
PSYCHOLOGY: Anxiety, Stress and Social Pressure Sabotage Choice
This is the next-to-last article in a series about the difficulties faced by retail wine buyers and the problems with the existing systems created to address that problem. The entire series The Problem: Welcome To The Vino Casino And Wine’s Shaky Core Genetics: Inherited Taste Chaos Sabotages How Wine Gets Recommended Scaling: 3/4 Of Wine […]