Why doesn't it surprise me that this bright-eyed concept comes from a couple of doods barely old enough to be out of school? I fink I'm going to fwow up ...
<b>New Wine Ratings Site Gets Right To The Point</b>
Santa Rosa, CA: justwinepoints.com, a new wine ratings site, was launched in Beta form last week. Created by two ex-Wine X employees, the new source delivers the wine trade and consumer exactly what they want: just points, no descriptions.
“justwinepoints represents 20 years of research into why and how wine aficionados purchase wine,” says Jenna Corwin, co-founder of justwinepoints.com. “After examining and categorizing our data, we believe our easy-to-use, risk-free system presents wine reviews exactly the way wine savvy consumers (and wine trade) want them: by the numbers, and numbers only. I mean, when’s the last time you’ve ever heard a person, a consumer or someone in the wine trade, ever say ‘This wine got a 95’ and then go on to state what the reviewer actually said about the wine.”
Corwin, age 24, and co-founder John Thomas, age 27, use the same tasting panel and tasting criteria as Wine X Magazine. But instead of using the Wine X scale (X Rated Wines), they’ve incorporated a 90+ point system.
“Despite what the wine trade and consumers think, there is no standard 100-point rating scale,” says Thomas. “If you read the fine print of publications/sources that use this scale, you’ll learn that some publications’ scores are based on how the wine tastes now; some on how they think the wine will taste at its peak (they’re guessing); some scales an “85” means highly recommended; some scales an “85” means average; etc.
“So instead of participating in this pool of uncertainty, we’ve decided to take a different road and value a wine on what it’s supposed to be. For example: if we taste a Bordeaux that’s a wannabe “First Growth” than we judge it against a First Growth ideal. If it’s a $10 red blend from California that aspires to be a $10 red blend from California, then we value it on that ideal. Honestly, why judge a $10 red blend from California against a First Growth Bordeaux if the $10 bottle just wants to be a nice, easy-drinking, everyday red wine? If it lives up to everything it’s supposed to be, why devalue it just because it’s not a First Growth?”
“Let’s be honest: The sophistication level of wine enthusiasts who use the 100-point scale far exceeds that of the average, uninitiated consumers,” says Corwin. “Savvy wine aficionados understand attributes associated with different wine styles, varietals and regions. They understand about aging young wine and the influences brought about by proper cellaring. Savvy wine consumers also know that pairing wine with food is a subjective preference; therefore someone else’s opinion is absolutely irrelevant. Thus, wine descriptors and any other verbiage lashed onto rating points is wasted time and effort by both reviewer and reader."
“We’re all about getting more wineries more shelf space,” says Thomas. “That gives consumers more choices. What could be cooler than that!”
