Online wine tasting

[gsquared]

Do you think it would be fun to put together an online tasting of "new world" wines? Something along the following lines:

1. Decide on a cultivar

2. Select one Californian, one Australian, one Chilean, one South African example of that cultivar.

3. Allow sufficient time for everybody to source the wines.

4. Post and discuss tasting notes over a period of 24 hours.

[guajolote]

A few months ago someone tried to coordinate a virtual wine and cheese pairing tasting. It failed miserably.

Go for it though. I'd like to participate.

[docsconz]

I'm game.

[Craig Camp]

I would love to join it if I could find any of them. I may have to drive to London. Otherwise I would love to watch.

[docsconz]

I would love to join it if I could find any of them. I may have to drive to London. Otherwise I would love to watch.

Maybe we could start with some Italian wines that are readily available.

One thing that would possibly effect a virtual tasting would be the different environmental conditions prevalent at each tasting location. Weather and climate related effects on wine is another whole topic of discussion.

[pixelchef]

Yea, but that is what'll make it interesting. It'd be pretty boring if everyone posted virtually identical tasting notes/opinions.

I'm in if I can find the wines at my local LCBO (Ontario).

[tammylc]

Another wine board I'm on does this every month. The challenge is always finding wines that are widely available.

But I'd be happy to participate if we can find one...

[KatieLoeb]

I'm game if the wines are available and *ahem* "budget friendly" for an underpaid beverage manager

Of course I'm also drinking alone, so I wonder if we could do one wine per night or per week or whatever so as not to get too trashed, still show up for work the next day and most importantly, not waste too much good wine. After all, there's sober people somewhere that'd give their right arm for that wine that goes down the sink!

[melkor]

I'm in also... I think for this to work we'll need to pm our tasting notice to someone and have them posted all at once or setup a board that is post only. It's much better to have a bunch of different posts including the 'this tastes like froot' posts than to have all the posts say 'hints of cherry, cassis, and black currant' because the first person to post said that.

What's the price target? Since it's summer it would seem like a reasonably good idea to do a summery white to start with, maybe one wine per week or per night - whatever people are comfortable with. I'd say a good easy wine to start with would be the simple Dr. Loosen 2001 Riesling (non QmP), it's in wide distribution and only costs $10 or so. A slightly more exotic option would be D'Arenberg Laughing Magpie (Shiraz/Viogner) which is $15 in oz and $25 for the rest of us.

[pixelchef]

Riesling. Chenin Blanc. Viognier. Pinot Gris.

Either of these 4 grapes will make me a very happy little man. Please, no Chardonnay.

[melkor]

Either of these 4 grapes will make me a very happy little man.  Please, no Chardonnay. 

Howzabout a nice mer-lot?

[KatieLoeb]

Either of these 4 grapes will make me a very happy little man.  Please, no Chardonnay. 

Howzabout a nice mer-lot?

Ya' just couldn't leave it alone, couldjya'??? :laugh:

[melkor]

Either of these 4 grapes will make me a very happy little man.  Please, no Chardonnay. 

Howzabout a nice mer-lot?

Ya' just couldn't leave it alone, couldjya'??? :laugh:

How could I?

[Carolyn Tillie]

Either of these 4 grapes will make me a very happy little man.  Please, no Chardonnay. 

Howzabout a nice mer-lot?

Ya' just couldn't leave it alone, couldjya'??? :laugh:

How could I?

Awwww.... no Mad Dog????

[melkor]

Either of these 4 grapes will make me a very happy little man.  Please, no Chardonnay. 

Howzabout a nice mer-lot?

Ya' just couldn't leave it alone, couldjya'??? :laugh:

How could I?

Awwww.... no Mad Dog????

I generaly shy away from most of gallo's products

[Fat Guy]

Another wine board I'm on does this every month.

Successfully? If so, would you mind laying out the basic strategy and discussing the things that have gone wrong and right? What are some example of wines that were available widely enough for this to make sense? Do people enjoy the exchange, in that they find it significantly more valuable than sharing tasting notes in general?

For the US, the easiest thing would be to choose something that's available on Wine.com -- that way, even if some users can't get it locally, they can order it online. Wine.com covers 80% of the US, including all of eGullet's key US markets except DC (Virginia yes, Maryland no, DC no). And choosing European wines from within that inventory might give the international members of the site a better chance.

Then of course the question becomes one of enthusiasm and critical mass. This will be decidedly un-fun if only a couple of people do it.

Finally, impelementation. Melkor had the same ideas I had when we set up our eGullet writing competition, with the same rationale. Therefore, Melkor is a genius. Unfortunately, genius is not always sufficient for success: these ideas turned out to be complete failures. Turns out, we do a lot better with the writing competition by just running it like a normal forum. Maybe it decreases originality a little, but it massively increases participation and discussion.

[ctgm]

Riesling.  Chenin Blanc.  Viognier.  Pinot Gris.

Either of these 4 grapes will make me a very happy little man.  Please, no Chardonnay. 

I'd be up for it.

Craig, if findable in London I could always post to you.

As for the no Chardonnay, reminds me of a great interview that I saw on TV once with an Australian producer saying that they made 9 great chardonnays in 10 years compared with the French who might only make 1 or 2. Then you had the French producer saying "we do not make a chardonnay but use chardonnay to make a Puligny Montrachet"

[Carolyn Tillie]

Another wine board I'm on does this every month.

Successfully? If so, would you mind laying out the basic strategy and discussing the things that have gone wrong and right? What are some example of wines that were available widely enough for this to make sense? Do people enjoy the exchange, in that they find it significantly more valuable than sharing tasting notes in general?

If I may, I believe it is Robin Garr's website that was referred to... It IS successful. While I have never participated in the tasting, I post regularly on that site and enjoy reading the tasting challenge.

Take a look: Robin Garr's Wine Lover's Discussion Group - Wine Tasting 101 Forum

It is a beautifully-designed site full of informative, pleasant people with unparalleled amounts of information. Interestingly enough, one of Robin's requirements (which I kinda appreciate) -- he asks that people do not make up nom de plumes, but use their real names.

[Craig Camp]

Craig, if findable in London I could always post to you.

Thank you! That's most kind.

[Craig Camp]

If I may, I believe it is Robin Garr's website that was referred to... It IS successful.

I don't think anyone is insulting Robin or his excellent site, but questioning if these things are successful. It is only successful if it communicates well to all the participants.

[tammylc]

It was Robin's page that I refering to, and as Carolyn has said, it does seem to be a pretty successful activity. I've participated once or twice (and still have a bottle of Pinotage I bought for last month in my basement). One difference between it and what's being proposed here is that it goes on for a month, rather than aiming to be simultaneous. Although as someone suggested, the protocol could be to send your notes to one person who would collect them and post them all at once, to avoid cross-contamination of tasting language...

And while there are one or two benchmark wines for the month, people are encouraged to participate even if they can't find the exact benchmark wine, making it fairly nationally and globally accessible. It cuts down on the fun of comparing different notes on the same wine, though.

[Craig Camp]

OK if you guys really want to do this we can. I can coordinate and post the notes sent to me by PM. Please post your suggestions for format - NOT THE VARIETAL OR TYPE WE WILL TASTE - but how we will run this thing. I will take your suggestions put them into a basic format then we can 'vote' kind of on how we will do it and I will set the first one.

Sound good?

[slacker]

i know. Pick a supplier - a supermarket, a shop, a whatever - all accessible by the tasters (afraid it needs to be limited geographically). Choose 4 wines (not by committee) i.e. ME No, no, I mean Craig. Choose a time. Dictate tastng conditions, ISO glasses etc., the basic stuff. Create 4 threads, one for each wine. Then voilà. Think small at first - nothing too pricey. Try it. Nothing ventured.................

The wines MUST be identical, or we may as well just post tasting notes in the normal way.

Yes, think small...............then it can only become hugely successful.

[Craig Camp]

We have not forgotten the online wine tasting and are still working out the details. Thanks to those who have made suggestions.

This concept has caused a general review of the wine board and we are working on some ideas to bring you a better, more informative and lively wine forum. The online tasting will be part of our overhaul.

Stay tuned.

[slacker]

Good potential...........the geographical split(s) hinder(s) my participation.