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[Poll]

For whom do you write tasting notes?


I write just for myself and don't care if others read my notes
  6% (5)
I write mainly for myself but with others in mind
  28% (21)
About fifty-fifty
  24% (18)
I write mainly for others but also to remember wines that I drank
  36% (27)
I write just for others as a way to share with the community
  5% (4)


Total Votes : 75
(last vote on : 11/4/2016 11:23:01 AM)
(Poll will run till: -- )
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For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 12:53:03 PM   
Chip Merlot

 

Posts: 529
Joined: 10/13/2013
From: NJ
Status: offline 		I did a search to see if this had been a topic before and I couldn't find a thread (not even indirectly, although it comes up as a tangent occasionally).

The question occurred to me because one of my favorite threads is the Tasting Notes of Note thread, and it's obvious that some people have no expectation that anyone else will read or care about their notes. Whereas, I write my notes mainly for the community and secondarily as a memory-jogger for myself. So, where do y'all fall?
Post #: 1
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 1:00:02 PM   
cigar52

 

Posts: 345
Joined: 8/15/2013
From: California... now Sarasota, FL
Status: offline 		Although my notes do not go into a lot of detail I do try to give my rating and age-ability of the wine.

(in reply to Chip Merlot)
Post #: 2
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 1:07:59 PM   
Slye

 

Posts: 1923
Joined: 8/3/2013
Status: offline 		Nice topic. I voted for the fourth category, but it sometimes depends on the wine. Sometimes I do it for myself more, if I have multiple bottles of the same wine. Though even there I am conscious of trying to provide something useful to others.

(in reply to cigar52)
Post #: 3
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 1:43:25 PM   
skifree

 

Posts: 3416
Joined: 3/14/2010
From: SE King County, Washington
Status: offline 		Agree, nice topic. I answered the same way.

Every once in awhile I write a note for a wine that NO ONE else has - if you write a note and no one reads it does it really count?


_____________________________

So much wine, so little time

(in reply to Slye)
Post #: 4
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 2:21:33 PM   
Ibetian

 

Posts: 3586
Joined: 7/15/2007
From: Sarasota, FL and the Berkshires
Status: offline 		When I first started, I wrote only for myself, but these days it is more 50-50. The change is largely due to this BB. As I participated more, I came to view this as a community that was important to me, so I hope my notes have some value for others, at least for drinkability.

(in reply to skifree)
Post #: 5
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 2:24:30 PM   
fingers

 

Posts: 8261
Joined: 8/26/2006
From: Santa Ana, CA
Status: offline 		Hey, for once I'm with the majority. I guess I answer that way because when the MS taught us how to write a proper note in the WSET class, it was always with the intent of conveying your experience to others. Occasionally it is intended as just a personal record, as Slye indicates like for multiple bottles of the same wine over time, but contributing to the community notes is both noble and intoxicating..

(in reply to skifree)
Post #: 6
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 2:54:04 PM   
PinotPhile

 

Posts: 3728
Joined: 3/16/2014
From: Southern CA
Status: offline 		Good topic. I am with the majority.

I have found CT scores and tasting notes very helpful, and only use those entries that feature both. Just a score is not helpful; just a tasting note is better, but I prefer both. Ratings by those who purchase their own wines, in general, are more credible to me than critics who review "samples".

So I primarily write to share info that I think would be useful to others. But the record within CT is a good memory jogger.

Cheers!


(in reply to Chip Merlot)
Post #: 7
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 3:07:45 PM   
periko

 

Posts: 602
Joined: 10/11/2012
From: Barcelona, Spain
Status: offline 		Voted 4th option.
I like to share what I drink and I intend that my notes are helpful.
It also works very well for me to remember all those forgotten bottles that fall in the category between the extraordinary ones and the plonk.
Own tasting notes are also very helpful if you have several bottles of certain wine, to follow its evolution.

(in reply to PinotPhile)
Post #: 8
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 3:44:41 PM   
bretrooks

 

Posts: 2871
Joined: 9/27/2009
From: San Luis Obispo, CA
Status: offline 		Like Ibetian, I started out taking notes primarily for myself (disciplining myself in paying attention to each bottle to help myself learn, enjoy, and remember better), but over time I've appreciated learning from the notes of others, and now I write notes with the hope that they helpful to others as well as myself. Almost voted for option 4, but I eventually went with 50/50.

_____________________________

WSET L3 in Wines
My Cellar

(in reply to periko)
Post #: 9
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 4:40:53 PM   
Chip Merlot

 

Posts: 529
Joined: 10/13/2013
From: NJ
Status: offline 		I love that the person who voted that he/she writes only for him/herself did not write an explanation for us. Appropriate!!

(in reply to bretrooks)
Post #: 10
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 6:16:10 PM   
dsGris

 

Posts: 4712
Joined: 8/31/2009
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline 		This is a sharing community and I enjoy contributing. Most of the wines I drink are in the affordable range(in the eye of the beholder). I share them on WineBerserkers regularly to balance the Screagle/SQN bunch.

_____________________________

DennisG
Granpa Wino

(in reply to Chip Merlot)
Post #: 11
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 6:26:58 PM   
mc2 wines

 

Posts: 3873
Joined: 8/31/2012
From: NYC
Status: offline 		I think maybe I had a different process. I wrote originally because I thought that's what I should do and certainly I find it incredibly helpful when I'm trying to decide about opening a wine/buying a wine/etc. to read the CT notes associated. Esp if there's some reference to where it's at in drinking window and preparation. I have also however found the notes are a great resource for me to remember what I drank and what I thought about it at the time. If I were to skew one way or the other, I think it's prob more towards for other ppl (that's what I've traditionally thought of the purpose of notes being), but I do think I will continue to appreciate being able to look at our notes. So 50/50.

Also - echo this is a great question. And an interesting perspective as I think both can work (although the person who writes 'drank w/xxx' inevitably gets an 'unhelpful vote'. That belongs in the personal notes. The broad ones I think are meant to have at least some partial value to others)..

_____________________________

Friends don't let friends wine alone

(in reply to dsGris)
Post #: 12
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 7:09:32 PM   
fingers

 

Posts: 8261
Joined: 8/26/2006
From: Santa Ana, CA
Status: offline 		Apparently, I also write for garagiste. Rimmerman quoted one of my tasting notes in today's offer.. kinda funny if you happen to read it.

(in reply to mc2 wines)
Post #: 13
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 7:15:43 PM   
CranBurgundy

 

Posts: 8272
Joined: 1/5/2016
From: Philly / South Joizey
Status: offline 		I'm definitely in the majority. It's nice to see other notes that help you recognize who has a similar palate. This can help you down the line deciding if a bottle is worth buying so I try to return the favor to the community.

quote:

ORIGINAL: skifree

Every once in awhile I write a note for a wine that NO ONE else has



Done that once on a Riesling, but relatively often for wines that have maybe only two or three other notes despite being several years old. I tend to enjoy some fairly obscure dessert wines so it comes as no surprise I'm one of three tasting notes on a 1979 Rivesaltes.

< Message edited by CranBurgundy -- 10/13/2016 7:16:29 PM >

_____________________________

Purple Drankin' Cretin.

Vote NO on Proposition S1ct1516 "BAN the CRAN!" this Election Day.

“Let it be recorded: henceforth, December 15 shall be known as 'The Day of Dennis'.” - Prof. Ken "KPB" Birman, 12/17/23

(in reply to skifree)
Post #: 14
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/13/2016 9:01:55 PM   
etc

 

Posts: 93
Joined: 6/11/2012
From: San Mateo
Status: offline 		I write mainly for myself to provide me with a reference especially if I have another bottle. If my notes help another in shedding light on a particular bottle all the better. That's assuming they understand my poor writing capabilities

(in reply to CranBurgundy)
Post #: 15
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/14/2016 10:24:44 AM   
GalvezGuy

 

Posts: 5864
Joined: 5/10/2007
From: Galveston, TX
Status: offline 		I write mostly for myself however, I try to be as helpful as possible, especially on my perceived drinking windows.

_____________________________

Burgundy makes you think of silly things; Bordeaux makes you talk about them; Champagne makes you do them.

(in reply to etc)
Post #: 16
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/14/2016 11:47:33 AM   
mikes

 

Posts: 46
Joined: 8/9/2016
From: South of Denver, North of the Springs
Status: offline 		This is a curious one for me, a relative noob in journaling my tasting notes publicly.. I suspect some poor reader is frustrated with my notes on where, with what food, and with whom I consumed, let alone my out-of-practice palate. For this reason I believe I write mostly for myself, but with awareness that someone will read it.

On a related note, I have a fear I'll "drunk dial" my tasting notes and end up on a thread of TNs here I would rather not!

(in reply to GalvezGuy)
Post #: 17
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/14/2016 2:25:51 PM   
sastewart

 

Posts: 605
Joined: 8/16/2012
From: Greater Nashville
Status: offline 		Notes are written mostly for others. I especially value other people's notes when I am considering opening a bottle so I try to include my thoughts on potential drinking windows. I add scores but think they have little value without the notes for context.

I usually use the note section in consumed to indicate who we shared the wine with and for additional bottles of the same wine if the notes are redundant since I doubt that the group cares much about that.

< Message edited by sastewart -- 10/14/2016 2:28:05 PM >

(in reply to mikes)
Post #: 18
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/14/2016 4:08:44 PM   
rlp805

 

Posts: 2224
Joined: 1/10/2011
From: Mouse House Orlando, Fl
Status: offline 		I went with 50-50. I don't write a lot of notes because I don't have one of the great wine palates of the world. I know what I like but I am not one to be able to pull out the fine nuances of the juice. I do try to give an overall impression and some indication if I think it's ready to drink or what a decent decant or slow O time might be. This would be mostly for others as I typically buy one or two bottles of each wine.

I do include scores but this is mostly for me and allows for tracking the year to year quality of a producer. I use a 84 - 95 range; <85 not worth the calories, above 95 would be better than my palate could probably distinguish.

_____________________________

-Richard


(in reply to sastewart)
Post #: 19
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/14/2016 4:39:08 PM   
BobMilton

 

Posts: 2877
Joined: 1/29/2010
From: Newbury Park, CA
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: rlp805

I went with 50-50. I don't write a lot of notes because I don't have one of the great wine palates of the world. I know what I like but I am not one to be able to pull out the fine nuances of the juice. I do try to give an overall impression and some indication if I think it's ready to drink or what a decent decant or slow O time might be. This would be mostly for others as I typically buy one or two bottles of each wine.

I do include scores but this is mostly for me and allows for tracking the year to year quality of a producer. I use a 84 - 95 range; <85 not worth the calories, above 95 would be better than my palate could probably distinguish.

You do about what I do. Score is to remind me of wines I really liked in the past year (and some I definitely want to avoid). Have had a couple that I gave 96s to (and several that didn't warrant even an 84, unfortunately).

(in reply to rlp805)
Post #: 20
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/14/2016 5:05:50 PM   
dsGris

 

Posts: 4712
Joined: 8/31/2009
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline 		I enjoy more nuanced wines these days and am pleasantly pleased when my notes reflect what others have tasted. I guess I'm not over the hill yet.

_____________________________

DennisG
Granpa Wino

(in reply to BobMilton)
Post #: 21
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/15/2016 6:43:13 AM   
vin0vin0

 

Posts: 180
Joined: 11/23/2014
From: Huntersville, NC
Status: offline 		I put 50/50.

When I first started here I posted a TN on just about every bottle consumed but I've slacked off a bit recently, I'm trying to get back to my normal routine in the hope that others may get some benefit out of what I've written.

Every so often I go back to see how I scored certain wines that I have dupes of to check their progress, but I also like to see what others have written re: something I'm contemplating opening.

_____________________________

“On one occasion some one put a very little wine into a [glass], and said that it was sixteen years old. 'It is very small for its age,' said Gnathaena.”
Athenaeus, 'The Deipnosophists' (c. A.D. 200)

(in reply to dsGris)
Post #: 22
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/16/2016 7:08:37 AM   
khmark7

 

Posts: 11445
Joined: 7/6/2008
From: Chicago suburbs
Status: offline 		Mostly the majority.

I drink a lot of wine from local wineries and many times the wineries or varietals have little or no tasting notes, so i feel that i can add something to the community. I'm much less likely to add a note onto the giant pile of psychobabble regarding Pontet-Canet or some large producer that everyone is gushing over unless i felt the wine was completely different in my opinion.

_____________________________

"a rogue Provence rouge of unknown provenance." author grafstrb

(in reply to vin0vin0)
Post #: 23
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/16/2016 9:29:02 PM   
Wine_Strategies

 

Posts: 3833
Joined: 4/28/2009
From: Castle Pines N., CO. or Italia
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: khmark7

Mostly the majority.

I drink a lot of wine from local wineries and many times the wineries or varietals have little or no tasting notes, so i feel that i can add something to the community. I'm much less likely to add a note onto the giant pile of psychobabble regarding Pontet-Canet or some large producer that everyone is gushing over unless i felt the wine was completely different in my opinion.


I like this.

I started out writing the notes I thought I was supposed to write. Then I wrote the notes I needed to reference for whatever reason. But the more I understood CT, the more I understood it's about community, so today my notes are 50/50. I try to write a note that myself and someone I'll never meet might be able to find as useful. As of today, I have 3031 helpful votes, so I must be doing something ok. I feel like such an outsider sometimes though, as I write mostly about some obscure (and quite inexpensive) stuff (in between the good ones, life is short and friends like to share, as do I) and I don't use points; also, my cellar looks very different than most on this board, again, back to the outsider feeling, but hey, we all get along, so I keep drin.., erm, writing notes

_____________________________

Tim

https://ItalianWine.Smugmug.com

https://www.italianwine.blog




(in reply to khmark7)
Post #: 24
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/18/2016 2:43:24 PM   
nyccablover

 

Posts: 293
Joined: 1/9/2012
From: NYC
Status: offline 		When I first started using CT, I wrote some notes but soon fell out of the practice. When I looked back at wines in my cellar that I had consumed previously and had no notes at all, I found it very unhelpful because I had a hard time remembering anything about the wine. This year I was motivated to get disciplined about writing notes again and really enjoy being able to recall my observations when returning to a bottle. I try to write notes that are helpful to others, but not always sure I have as much value to add as the really highly experienced and trained tasters.

(in reply to Wine_Strategies)
Post #: 25
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/18/2016 5:39:13 PM   
Soteriologist

 

Posts: 41
Joined: 11/10/2015
Status: offline 		I write mostly for myself to track my learning curve and to laugh about my earlier foolishness. But also for others - since I noticed I am not the only fool. I am aiming at more precise and succinct notes with less rambling, following the example of old experienced connoisseurs. But sometimes I notice that even they missed something.

So I think writing TNs is a way of building one's own and the collective intelligence on the subject, one's contribution to which grows with experience.

_____________________________

"Through its generation, the correct analytical intellect is consumed."
kashyapaparivarta, Bhikkhu Gotama

(in reply to nyccablover)
Post #: 26
RE: For whom do you write tasting notes? - 10/18/2016 8:52:39 PM   
Wine_Strategies

 

Posts: 3833
Joined: 4/28/2009
From: Castle Pines N., CO. or Italia
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Soteriologist

I write mostly for myself to track my learning curve and to laugh about my earlier foolishness. But also for others - since I noticed I am not the only fool. I am aiming at more precise and succinct notes with less rambling, following the example of old experienced connoisseurs. But sometimes I notice that even they missed something.

So I think writing TNs is a way of building one's own and the collective intelligence on the subject, one's contribution to which grows with experience.


+1

_____________________________

Tim

https://ItalianWine.Smugmug.com

https://www.italianwine.blog




(in reply to Soteriologist)
Post #: 27
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