Comments on: “Quickly emptied:” Rating wine on a drinkability scale

By: Mugnier, Clos de la Marechale, decanted | Dr Vino's wine blog

Mugnier, Clos de la Marechale, decanted | Dr Vino's wine blog — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:00:47 +0000

[...] The best bottles are the quickest emptied. But you knew that. [...]

By: Thursday June 24, 2010 | A Tea Addict's Journal

Thursday June 24, 2010 | A Tea Addict's Journal — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:32:05 +0000

[...] just read a blog post about rating wines based on how fast they’re drunk. It’s actually a pretty good idea, and I noticed the same about my tea drinking [...]

By: Ribeira Sacra is en fuego when the weather is hot | Dr Vino's wine blog

Ribeira Sacra is en fuego when the weather is hot | Dr Vino's wine blog — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:37:17 +0000

[...] Case in point: D. Ventura’s Vina do Burato, 2008 (about $19). Weighing in at a spare 12% alcohol, this is a great summer red, perfect for chilling and serving dining outside. It’s reminiscent of a cru Beaujolais, although a tad darker in color, but with that same lively acidity, bright fruit and scoring highly on the drinkability scale. [...]

By: Wine Shop Clerk

Wine Shop Clerk — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:36:19 +0000

Yes drinkability is a very useful method for judging a wine and I now see the merits of taking note at dinner parties I attend. For example on several occasions a kind and often generous guest will bring a big name wine to share. Gut reaction would say that wine would be emptied first but that is not always the case. Sometimes the unknown bottle gets emptied first but I’m not calling for an end to the 100 point system.

I think we are talking about two different systems: tastings vs. dinner drinkings. One is often quick the other can take an entire evening. Tastings often are a guide to dinner drinking and never before wondered if the opposite is true. Maybe. Tastings or testings are a completely different way to enjoy wine and have fun.

Here is the question I like to ask for the drinkability is: What wine do you drink on a regular, steady basis? You know, the one you always go back to because it is a favorite, perhaps inexpensive but more importantly you feel comfortable opening a bottle just about anytime when no one is looking. That is the wine I would like to check for myself for my own enjoyment.

By: caroline palla

caroline palla — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:06:05 +0000

this rating system has been around for a long time and is published in the swiss wine magazine merum (www.merum.info). the test is called “the emptier the bottle… – the ultimate wine test”. they publish a list of all wines present at table and the number of centimeters left in the bottle at the end of the evening. I think it’s a great alternative to scoring wines. greetings from zurich, cp

By: Gary "Iron" Chevsky

Gary "Iron" Chevsky — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:41:36 +0000

Amen!
On the other hand, I’ve come a full circle, and generally find that dropping a bunch of wines to let the party decide which ones are the best is not the most enjoyable way to go. I much prefer to limit the selection to a very small number like 1 or 2 depending on the phase of the party and the course of the meal. By limiting selection and not forcing people to compare, they pay much more attention to the wine(s) at hand, and I do think they enjoy more, especially if I accompany the wine with a relevant story behind it. Then I gently progress them to other wines throughout the meal.

By: Becky Pruitt

Becky Pruitt — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:56:38 +0000

I agree totally!! I am a firm believer that it takes around 5 sips to adequately determine the essence of a wine…and initial sip and spit IMHO just doesn’t do it for me. To me, it’s like perfume….some wines intially are fantastic, but after a few sips, I am over them. Conversely, some wines don’t strike me as great in the first sip, but as the complexity is “realized” in my palatte, I want to extend the pleasure as long as possible.

Wine ratings, to me, do not guarantee tasting success – I have tasted MANY a sub-par 90+ wine!

By: Four red Bordeaux all made with TLC from Olivier Dauga | Drinking Outside The Box

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:39:40 +0000

[...] stumped with this question. These were wines that weren’t Page 3 stunnas but which passed the empty bottle test. Should I mark good wines down because they’re not my personal taste – think early [...]

By: A.C. Houston

A.C. Houston — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 19:35:44 +0000

Interesting observation about the wines that disappear fastest at a gathering being criterion for being the best. I don’t pay much attention to points when buying wine, but I’ve noticed that cost probably affects my enjoyment; recently I sampled a cabernet sauvignon at a tasting and it was quite nice, but I didn’t think it was worth nearly $115 a bottle. So my experience of it was ‘kind of yummy, but not great’. I think I might have said ‘wow!’ if this same wine had been priced at $20. The palate should be experiencing same thing in both cases, but some other expectation or psychology is affecting the complete ‘pleasure experience’.

By: Simon Woods

Simon Woods — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:22:49 +0000

Have to say American history isn’t my forte Tyler, but there are a few places in France called Vermont- maybe some of their sons ended up in and around New France?

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:10:10 +0000

Glad you like the idea!

@Cyrus – no surprise here about the joys of Beaujolais.

@SteveEdmunds – are you proposing “dancing naked in the rain” as an even higher rating than “quickly emptied”?

@Marty – that’s the whole address–quaint, eh? Here it is in google maps: http://bit.ly/cLw6lI

@Simon – Vermont, USA was derived from “les mont verts” or green mountains, no?

By: Simon Woods

Simon Woods — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:53:36 +0000

Marty, Vermont is a place in Beaujolais – your Vermont might even be named after it

By: marty

marty — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 03:01:23 +0000

Really curious about the word “Vermont” that appears on the label. Can anyone explain that? I apologize for being so “off-point;” however, we live in Vermont and I find it great fun to see it on a bottle of Beaujolais. Perhaps I’m not seeing it correctly?

On rating systems, . . . I think of them as operating like secondary sources in academe or like movie or book critics: they provide a perspective, often a useful one if you know the critic but haven’t yet read the primary source or seen the movie or read the book. Having made that observation, there is no denying the reliability of the empty bottle measure!

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:32:24 +0000

I always vaccum a good wine so I can get a last glass out of it. It keeps for a while! Check out my blog http://www.TheWineBitches.com

Cheers!

By: Obi Wine Kenobi

Obi Wine Kenobi — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:13:58 +0000

Steve Edmunds Rules!