Vinfolio and Roy's Tasting Notes

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Al B.
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Vinfolio and Roy's Tasting Notes

Post by Al B. »

I've just used the link on the FTLOP left-hand column and after a little messing about managed to find myself a list of all the Vintage Ports that Vinfolio had on offer.

Two things struck me:
(1) Wine Spectator has many more ratings shown that Roy - some serious catching up drinking to do there Roy! (26 ports offered, 23 ratings from WS, 13 ratings from Roy, 12 ratings from Wine Advocate, 5 from Robert Parker and 3 from International Wine Cellar).

(2) Vinfolio have not necessarily represented their wines with the best or the most appropriate tasting note. For example, they offer bottles of Fonseca '66, which can be a magnificent port. This port has three ratings shown against it of 97 points from Wine Spectator, 88 points from Wine Advocate and 83 points from Roy. Now no-one in their right mind would pay $129 + shipping for a wine with a rating of 83 points. When I opened and read Roy's TN it became quickly clear that the note was based on a bottle which Roy identified as flawed.

Now my point is this. If I did not have the in-depth knowledge of this website I would review the Vinfolio details and come to two conclusions.

First, that what Vinfolio were telling me was pointless. That I don't want to know that a bottle someone once tried was flawed - when choosing a wine I want to know how good it will be when appreciated at its best.

Second, that the person allowing Vinfolio to repeat a tasting note on a flawed bottle was not someone whose opinion I would bother to rely on in the future as this is not the point of a collection of tasting notes. Rather, tasting notes are a record of either the greatness of the beauty of a bottle of wine or are otherwise a record of the greatness of an occasion. If the latter, taking the TN out of the context of the occasion is a risk if the bottle did not show well. Such a tasting note might also put me off visiting the FTLOP website (and I note that there is no link to the website on the tasting note).

I don't intend this to be a rant and hope it doesn't come across as such. This should be read more with the mild surprise that I felt when I looked at the scores given to the Fonseca '66 - which is a wine that I know and love. If you get the chance to look at the Vinfolio site, I would be interested to know what other people think.

Thanks,

Alex
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Roy Hersh
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Post by Roy Hersh »

(2) Vinfolio have not necessarily represented their wines with the best or the most appropriate tasting note. For example, they offer bottles of Fonseca '66, which can be a magnificent port. This port has three ratings shown against it of 97 points from Wine Spectator, 88 points from Wine Advocate and 83 points from Roy. Now no-one in their right mind would pay $129 + shipping for a wine with a rating of 83 points. When I opened and read Roy's TN it became quickly clear that the note was based on a bottle which Roy identified as flawed.
Funny thing, I brought this issue up to the owner of Vinfolio a few days after launch. I explained that I had a few TNs on this wine and that they chose the only one which denoted a flawed wine. He said they use the most current TN if a number of them were listed for the same wine. I then said that with both of the other TNs on the same wine quite current too, that really they should make an exception and utilize my other TN and I copied them for him. He wrote back that it was too difficult for their software to pick up these types of things and that I should not enter (as their other critics don't) flawed bottle TNs into my database. As I brought it to their attention and tried to do the right thing ... at that point, I stopped my quibbling and shut up. Afterall, it is his website and therefore, he can do whatever he chooses as the right path for them.
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Al B.
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Post by Al B. »

Roy,

Perhaps there is a simple solution - if they use an automated piece of software keyed to the name of the wine to pick up the most recent tasting note from your database then that fact can probably be exploited so as to
(a) give Vinfolio what they want by way of TN's on unflawed bottles and
(b) ensure that your reputation and integrity is protected from the whims of their software

Just change the name of the wine in the tasting note from "Fonseca 1966" to "Fonseca (Flawed Bottle) 1966".

:idea:

Then maybe everyone will be happy! We still get to see the note on the occasional flawed bottle - which helps us to recognise the nature and type of flaws we might encounter in the future - and Vinfolio get to give their potential customers a view on the best showing of the wine.

Alex
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Roy Hersh
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Post by Roy Hersh »

A great suggestion Alex. But aren't you a CellarTracker user?
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Al B.
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Post by Al B. »

I don't use CellarTracker. This is not a slight on the quality of the system, just a reflection of the fact that I have never been able to make the time to properly work through Eric's website and to fully understand what it has to offer.

I still find it easier to use a spreadsheet. Especially in these dark days when I don't have internet access from home.

Alex
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Roy Hersh
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Post by Roy Hersh »

Alex,

The beauty of CT is that you can take a spreadsheet and quickly have it uploaded into CT as there is a program built by Eric that does that without much sweat involved. If you own a Blackberry or similar device, you can virtually get into your cellar or check tasting notes, at any given moment.
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Eric LeVine
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Post by Eric LeVine »

Roy, this is a very valid point (the original one) and a simple enough solution exists with a little help from you and Stewart. Just keep a flag in your database with each note indicating if the wine was defective (a 1 or a 0). When the CT support launches shortly it will take this into account so we can avoid the scenario described above. (I just need your help picking out the notes on defective wines.)
-Eric LeVine It rhymes with wine... http://www.cellartracker.com
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Eric LeVine
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Post by Eric LeVine »

FYI, another 'flawed' note is on the 1987 Taylor Vargellas.
-Eric LeVine It rhymes with wine... http://www.cellartracker.com
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Roy Hersh
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Post by Roy Hersh »

Hmm. I remember a bad bottle or two of the 1967 Vargellas this year but not 1987, although I know you'd never post this if you weren't correct.
Ambition driven by passion, rather than money, is as strong an elixir as is Port. http://www.fortheloveofport.com
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Eric LeVine
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Post by Eric LeVine »

http://www.fortheloveofport.com/index.p ... view&id=85

1987 Fonseca-Guimaraens Vintage Port – What a treat, as I have had the Vargellas from this vintage so many times, but this bottling only a couple of times in the past. Medium garnet color. A bit tight and I don’t believe this was decanted ahead of time. Slightly stewed tomato notes and an herbaceous off putting aromatic profile. Sweet fruit that was clearly madeirized and this must have been a flawed bottle. What a shame as I really was looking forward to this one. n/r (10/5/06)
-Eric LeVine It rhymes with wine... http://www.cellartracker.com
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