Vegas Wineaux Does Wine Reviews

Okay, here we go.

I’ve been threatening to do wine reviews for a while now, and finally decided that now was the time. However, before I get started, I wanted to give you a heads-up (i.e., warning) about my tasting method. It’s a little different. While the 100-point scale has and continues to serve as the benchmark for wine evaluations, every now and then all you need is a generalization of what wine is about, using words that “everybody” understands. And that’s where I come in.

Let’s face it, no matter how professional the wine taster is, it really does come down to personal taste. For instance, I love most wines, but if I had to do a tasting on Nebbiolo from Italy, I would be a dismal failure. Why? Because I still have yet to find one that I really like. Nebbiolo fans … chill. That means more for you.

So the best we can expect is a professional opinion slightly tainted with personal preferences. That’s my opinion and I’m stickin’ with it.
In my wine reviews, I will make no pretense of anything other than my own personal opinion of that particular wine, detached objectivity be damned. While this will mean that I will only be reviewing varietals that I like, there will be the occasional adventure. However, unlike Wine Spectator and its ilk, my budget and time are very limited, so I will be doing more “everyman” wines than you will see anywhere else. My first review is of one of the high-end wines from my personal collection, but most reviews will be on those wines that I will drink as an everyday wine.

Here is a generalization of my rating scale:

Appearance: I won’t spend a lot of time on this unless it’s something that particularly striking about the wine (i.e., clear, vibrant, pale yellow … wait a minute. This is Merlot !) This is particularly true after my conversation with Alex Villicana earlier this spring when he explained that the reason that his winery went to filtering the Rosés was because people kept returning the unfiltered bottles. Go figure.

Aroma: I will definitely talk about aroma. Frankly, my descriptions will depend on my mood for the moment, but generally ranging from “hold the nose” to “dab behind the ears” qualities. "Dab Behind the Ears," by the way, means that it’s like a good perfume, which women like to, well, dab behind the ears.

Flavors: Yes, I will talk about flavors, but may or may not use the “acceptable” wine terms. I’ll call it the way I taste it.

Experience: While not every single wine is an *experience,* I will share my overall impression of the wine. Let’s face it. Sometimes a wine will taste differently depending upon your mood, the company, the situation, blah blah blah. You can be sure that my best experiences will be using words describing one of my many George Clooney fantasies. Those of you who know me can relate, I’m sure.

So I hope you enjoy my foray into the world of wine reviews. I’m pretty sure that Wine Spectator won’t be losing any sleep.

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