A running journal of particular wines enjoyed recently, or perhaps not, along with some commentary, including a personal rating.
To me, the common numerical rating system on a 100-point scale is like trying to rate a Bartok quartet against a Mozart symphony - it can't be done.
But it has other deficiencies: the first fifty points are not used, and then there are even finer gradations, such as an 89+.
Mercifully, mine will have only 5 levels (although I will use +/- occasionally):
Poor - significantly flawed, or unpleasant enough to avoidPrice will tend to affect the rating, because I expect a wine that costs more than $15 to be "Very good" to "Excellent". The wines are catalogued by Type (see to the right). White wines lists will generally be ordered by year, since recent vintages will be of greater interest; red wines lists will generally be by producer, in alphabetical order. There is also a summary by Month (see below), with the most recent month first. [Note, updated 1/29/07 - I seem to have violated my promise (above) to use 5 rating levels with only an occasional +/-, but for two reasons: there have been very few wines in the "Poor" or "Fair" categories, and I also want a way to be able to distinguish wines in the "Good" and "Very Good" categories (I guess that's how the wine mag 89+ ratings came about). The sequence of ratings in ascending order has become: "Good", "Good+", "Good++", "Very Good-", "Very Good", "Very Good+", and "Very, Very Good". Above that, "Excellent" remains without any +/-, while "Outstanding" has not yet been used.] Jan. 2005 - A new feature: Recommended Wines, an attempt to take note of those wines, out of the many that I sampled, that merited some special attention. [Note added 1/29/07: while this may have been a good idea originally, I haven't really kept up the list for a while.] |
White Wines Riesling - predominantly German Red and Rosé Wines Pinot Noir - my favorite red varietal Feb. 2005: New Zealand June 2004: Calif. (northern Sonoma) May 2004: Mosel Valley |
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October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 |
November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 |
November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May: River Cruise May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 |
November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 May: Germany April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 |
November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 Feb.: New Zealand February 2005 January 2005 |
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November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 June: Calif. Trip May 2004 May: Mosel Trip April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 |
November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 |
November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 |
| Updated 11/6/09 |
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