How I Taste

How I write my notes
When I put tasting notes on the blog, they are merely my first impressions of the wines. They are generally pretty short and sweet, very rarely do I go into a lot of detail and generally they may be for particularly special wines (e.g. old wines, rare wines), or if it is in a blind tasting.
If I list the vintage before the name of the wine, this means it is not a “finished” wine (i.e. it isn’t yet in bottle). Typically the first sentence of my tasting note is dedicated to aromas, and the second sentence is for the palate. I don’t often talk about the appearance of the wine, unless it is unusual (e.g. older, skin-contact white wine).

Why I don’t score wines
My impressions are merely my own, and are not necessarily reflective of the general quality of the wine. In my opinion it is impossible to be completely objective in assessing wine quality, as experience and preference will always play a part in someones opinion. Context also plays a huge part in your appreciation of a wine, and wines were not meant to be merely tasted and judged, they were meant to be shared and enjoyed with food. I do give wines a score out of five stars on Vivino, but such is the nature of the app, and my tasting note in some way is a reflection of my rating.

When I post tasting notes
Any tasting notes listed on the blog are from a single winery or a special event/tasting. Typically the notes are merely in support of a winery visit entry on the blog. If you would like to find single bottle notes you can find me on Vivino where I am a featured user.

Samples
If you would like to send me samples, I’ll be happy to taste them on my YouTube channel as a Let’s Taste with The Intrepid Wino episode. You are welcome to send individual bottles or a range of wines. Please email me to get delivery details. PLEASE NOTE MY DELIVERY ADDRESS HAS RECENTLY CHANGED!!

James Scarcebrook (otherwise known as The Intrepid Wino)