What’s fascinating is that there are only a FEW authoritative voices on wine. Whereas in restaurants, movies, books, products, music, etc. people have the luxury of listening to the voice of many. People turn to Yelp, Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon, Cnet, iTunes. Now you might argue, well, wine is a luxury good, where I want an expert opinion. Really? What about food or movies? You trust your palate or opinion enough to know what you like and what you don’t… you’ll listen to Yelp or Rotten Tomatoes, and your friends rec over Ebert & Roeper. You don’t go to the old school (or maybe you do, I realize I’m making a major gross assumption here) Zagat hard copy which was written at single point in time to look up a restaurant. If so…then here’s some food for thought. Restaurants have mad turnover in terms of employees, wine pros, chefs, etc. Zagat ranks a resto once per year. So… you go off of a Zagat rating 10 months ago, which by the way is one voice (or at least < 5). Instead you could hit the interwebs, go to good ole Yelp or the resto rating of your choice and see REAL TIME, what peeps are saying. You might get 20 reviews in the last month! This would quell any fears about employee turnover, especially with the cooking staff. Now, these peeps most likely are not foody connoisseurs. However, do you trust them to adequately judge service, ambiance, and quality of food? Maybe not. But at least you can read their reviews to ascertain how sophisticated their analyses may be. Decide for yourself.

In the wine world, people have been turning to a dying industry. Wine Spectator (don’t get me started). Wine Advocate. Wine Enthusiast…magazines! Now what? Robert Parker is an influential figure and, darn it, I respect him for what he done in the biz with scoring wines. Tremendous. But what he is doing is not scalable going forward. Espcially with people consuming info online and turning to consensus reviews. Parker rates wine at a point in time – for you finance nerds it’s like a balance sheet vs. an income statement.

Wine changes… it transforms in the bottle, in the glass, in the moment. Let people decide. Let them tell the story, based on their palates. Let the winemakers tell the story. 100 reviews is much more powerful than one man’s, in my opinion. I believe Cork’d is a sucker that can scale. People, more than ever are consuming information online… But I diverge. The point is, no matter how many influential human beings there are in the wine world, one voice doesn’t do it. It takes many. My palate is totally different than yours. I like smelly arm pit, just came out of the gym, sweat socks, barnyard, funkified, dirty, blue cheesy wine. I’m guessing you want to throw up right now.

So… make your voice heard. Not just in wine. But everywhere. Don’t be shy. You can’t be wrong when it comes to wine, music, food, art, travel. They are subjective and local to your DNA. It is your opinion after all. Embrace it and share it. Influence. Otherwise, how will others know what to buy?

“We have an infinite amount of work to do & a limited amount of time to do it in.”

Kill me. At the time, I remember Anuj laughing and going to start in on the work; I, on the other hand, was fresh meat, and terrified by the thought. Nowadays, I have an infinite amount of work which excites me and the prospects keep me driven and reassured that we have indeed created a business model that works at Cork’d. But there I go again ranting about something unrelated to wine…

The point of the story above is this: Anuj and I were enjoying a bottle of wine while talking & laughing over dinner. He always defers to me when choosing wine which I love which means I get to order something I haven’t tried before. We depleted a 2007 Muscadet Sevre et Maine “Sur Lie” Domaine de la Tourmaline made with the Melon de Bourgogne varietal.  I use this wine for illustrative purposes, to expatiate upon tasting, reviewing and scoring wines…and what might happen with the subjectivity of ratings.

Scenario UNO – You drink this wine alone on your couch. Yeah, I said it. And I do it. SO? Here’s the thing. You have no one to discuss the wine with, you’re likely not deep in conversation (except in your own MIND). Similar to seeing a thought provoking movie, you want someone to discuss with afterward, otherwise it’s not as fulfilling. This wine is fine, but that is all…it is wine, it’s in a glass. Perhaps you have it with a salad, do some work while you eat. You think about it, review it on Cork’d, but of course. You may rate it 86 points.

Scenario DOS – You imbibe this baby with a dear friend over dinner (my experience over the weekend). Mesmeric conversation not only about the wine but also about life, politics and relationships ensue giving this wine new life. You are feeling good about life, about yourself and having a remarkable time as you sip. You feel satisfied as you both agree on the backbone of this wine and debate about particular flavors. You score this sucker 88 points – see my review here.

Scenario TRES – You drink the wine with the winemaker at a restaurant. He visually brings you to the vineyard, telling you the history of the terroir, the vines, the labor that goes into the very bottle you are consuming. You hear his story, learn about his family and his passion for wine. You taste his sweat in the glass. After this encounter, you dig this wine, give it a 90.

Scenario QUATRO – Now… for the kicker! You go to Loire Valley, sojourn on the vineyard, see the vines, tour the cave with the winemaker. Feasting on an incredible meal with the most interesting people who live life the way it should be, you taste the wine again. Conversation is flowing and ever engaging. You are the life of the party and have never felt so good. You are influenced by how much everyone loves the wine. You give this baby a 92.

In my world, I often meet with the producers or folks in the industry and taste the fruits of their labor. I’m not naïve to think that knowing the winemaker and drinking his or her wine has no effect on scoring the wine. However, can I do it objectively? I’d like to think so…but relationships are powerful. The human connection is moving… and sometimes has subconscious implications.  Moreover, when it comes to wine “objective” doesn’t exist. However, I often rate wines on Cork’d right in front of winemakers and have no problem scoring a wine sub-90 points with my honest thoughts. Nothing against the person or the wine. My palate simply doesn’t LOVE the wine…doesn’t mean you won’t.

Just food for thought… or wine for reflection, as I like to say. Score a wine how you will. Just be AWARE of the surrounding situation and embrace it. Better yet, note it (in your review or tasting notes if you take them) so others know how to interpret your score.

MUCH LOVE to you all because human interactions and connections influence our thoughts and almost everything we do.