Wine Guide
Is the “traditional” wine communication system antiquated? The business of reviewing wines seems to have outgrown itself and, unfortunately, often become a mockery of itself. (Exhibit A: Sideways.) The introduction of new and modern communication techniques is having an impact on how wine is parsed. Long, drawn out paragraph-type descriptions of wines have begun to lose favor for a different approach. Communication, both in society and in wine society, no longer occurs exclusively via paragraphs and sentences. Increasingly, it now occurs in bits and pieces, usually in a stream-of-consciousness style.
Simplify wine communication without losing nuance
This new type of communication is especially important to the wine business because what is often most accurate about a wine is usually a drinker’s first impression, which is usually nothing more than a simple summary about the wine. Not coincidentally, a simple, first impression summary is reminiscent of what you might find in a text message or tweet. So, it is a natural progression for the wine industry to formally emerge into the 21st century on all levels, including learning to use the newest and fastest-growing methods to communicate. What would the perfect wine review look like? At colorandaroma, we believe it begins with a simpler approach to wine writing. Then, add a visual aid or two, and then the perfect balance of simplicity, accuracy and readability might materialize in a useful and engaging way for wine experts and wine novices.
The question becomes, can wine communication really be simplified? Wine reviewers frequently use descriptors such as red currant, blackberry leaf, wet stone, and sometimes things as crazy as mint chocolate chip ice cream when describing wines. Do most people actually know what wet stone smells or tastes like? And on the flip side, does the wine actually smell like mint chocolate chip ice cream? By all means, if a wine is unmistakingly reminiscent of mint chocolate chip ice cream or wet stones to you, then please use that as a descriptor for you but as a general rule, adjectives should not be forced onto a wine just because. Flavors are, of course, an inherent part of a wine and color and aroma does not want to forget that. We just do not want our readers to be distracted with unnecessary and repetitive “mad libs” style guidance with all those adjectives. We all get a laugh at the wackiest of adjectives in wine reviews, but does it really help to describe the bottle in question, especially when most wine descriptors can be used generically and applied to hundreds of different wines? Also, one can argue that each wine is as individual as the person who put it in the bottle, and indeed it is, so how can one written paragraph portend to do justice to the infinite nuance?
Painting a picture of wine with broad and fine brush strokes
Wine communication can be broken down to broad strokes and fine strokes. Broad strokes can come from many places, like from colorandaroma, a sommelier, or a wine merchant, but the finest strokes should always come from the individual enjoying the wine. The fine strokes can only be applied once the bottle has been opened and tasted. Trouble arises when another person tries to paint too fine a picture of a wine. It muddles how another person might see it. In colorandaroma, we’ll provide those broad strokes while our readers will fill in the fine print for themselves.
As this section implies, we are a wine guide, not a wine tyrant or bully. When communicating about wine, opinions are great, remarks about quality are great, even notes about the flavor and style are useful…if they are all done in moderation and in consideration of the reader. Once a writer has forgotten the reader in favor of waxing poetic then the usefulness of the communication evaporates, like so much wine at the bottom of a glass at the end of a party. Many wine reviews appear to have forgotten the reader and how their readers communicate in today’s society. We want to change that. We want to simplify wine communication and update it to today’s standards. Wine communication does not need to be exaggerated or complicated to be relevant or exciting: quite the opposite. The simpler the tactics, the easier it is for the drinker to understand what is inside the bottle without being spoon-fed another person’s opinion.
Discover a new world of wine with the color and aroma wine guide
With these goals in mind, colorandaroma will bring a fresh and exciting approach to guiding you through the maze of wines available today. We are not here to dictate what wines to taste but rather to facilitate the process. We recommend all of the wines on this website. We also recommend that you use this guide as a starting point to evaluate the wines on your own terms and in your own way because that is the best way to appreciate a great bottle of wine.
Consult the colorandaroma wine guide to discover the classic approach to evaluating wine: no points, no endless string of esoteric adjectives, but plenty of taste experience and sharing of ideas among expert and novice wine lovers. Join us online and in our spring issue as we embrace and explore this subjective, delicious world through the colorandaroma wine guide.
—colorandaroma
