On my way from Europe, I had a longish layover stay at Dulles
airport, where I chanced upon Vino Volo (www.vinovolo.com). They are
apparently trying to simplify the wine appreciation process by
introducing a 2-d wine scale:
http://www.vinovolo.com/learn.php
Does this make any sense to you? And does anybody else use such a
classification?

Being slightly hungry, I decided to have some of their appetizers
together with wine samples (they offer 3 wines to taste side by side,
the total amount of the 3 being about one glass). The samples are
grouped thematically, I asked for the World Noir set.
Here are the descriptions of the wines (they give you leaflets with
descriptions of what you taste, I used them to take notes) that I
scanned and OCRd, together with my notes.

1: CALIFORNIA

GRAPE Pinot Noir
WINE Santa Rita Hills
WINERY Sanford
REGION Santa Barbara County
YEAR 2002
$33 bottle

This "Sideways" wine is RICH with fruit and complexity. Red berry fruit
is its focus with strawberry, red raspberry and preserved cherry.
Elements like rhubarb, violet and vanilla complement the fruit flavors
with additional complexity.

My notes:
Dry, good tannins (I like tannic), but there was a funky note in the
smell that made it almost undrinkable to me. No idea what that note was,
never experienced anything like it before. Could it be the "rhubarb"?
I've never tasted that, no idea what it's supposed to smell like.
Grade: C


2: NEW ZEALAND

GRAPE Pinot Noir
WINE Estate
WINERY Amisfield
REGION Central Otago
YEAR 2003
$36 bottle

This RICH wine shows how successful New Zealand has become in creating
world class Pinot Noirs. Flavors and aromas of dark wild strawberries,
plums and raspberry jam combine with smooth, oaky vanilla, fennel seed,
cola, and sassafras notes.

My notes:
Very nice bouquet, but lacking both tannins and acidity; perception
too sweet for my taste.
Grade: B


3: BURGUNDY

GRAPE Pinot Noir
WINE "Emotion de Terroirs"
WINERY Vincent Girardin
REGION Cote d' Or
YEAR 2003
$27 bottle

This Pinot Noir from Burgundy has a focus on non-fruit flavors and
aromas make for a BROODING wine. Violet and rose blossom with some
autumn leaves and mulling spices are the first impression, rounded out
by fruit components of candy apple and strawberry.

My notes:
Very good balance of tannins and acidity; the aromas do not try to
overwhelm, but play nicely along. Each sip was delightful.
Grade: A

--
No, no, you can't e-mail me with no no.

Elko Tchernev wrote:
> On my way from Europe, I had a longish layover stay at Dulles
> airport, where I chanced upon Vino Volo (www.vinovolo.com). They are
> apparently trying to simplify the wine appreciation process by
> introducing a 2-d wine scale:
> http://www.vinovolo.com/learn.php
> Does this make any sense to you? And does anybody else use such a
> classification?

No, it strikes me as too simple (fruit/non-fruit? c'mon!) and I wouldn't
agree with their definition of BRIGHT, which to me denotes a fairly high
acidity, too. And the idea of a BROODING Pinot Noir is amusing to me,
though there certainly are some.

> 3: BURGUNDY
>
> GRAPE Pinot Noir
> WINE "Emotion de Terroirs"
> WINERY Vincent Girardin
> REGION Cote d' Or
> YEAR 2003
> $27 bottle
>
> This Pinot Noir from Burgundy has a focus on non-fruit flavors and
> aromas make for a BROODING wine. Violet and rose blossom with some
> autumn leaves and mulling spices are the first impression, rounded out
> by fruit components of candy apple and strawberry.
>
> My notes:
> Very good balance of tannins and acidity; the aromas do not try to
> overwhelm, but play nicely along. Each sip was delightful.
> Grade: A
>

It's interesting to me to read the notes on 2003 Burgs starting to
appear here and elsewhere. My kneejerk response was to dismiss the
vintage as a sun-baked disaster, but it appears that some winemerks were
able to make good wine even under those extreme conditions. I might
have to give a few a look, though if their prices remain high, it'll be
hard to entrust my $ to such a risky vintage.

Mark Lipton