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Posted 10:12 am November 16th, 2007
Hey Katy:
If you're like me, the last thing you do when you're in a social setting is write about the wines you are enjoying...sometimes remembering a wine you like does get away from you....Anyway....
Most of my notes come from my journal ( I start on a notepad and then transfer it to my computer files).
I take notes and write in detail about wines generally when I'm in tastings ( well, it is part of our jobs..) it can be hard to take subjective notes at a dinner or with drinks with friends.
For someone buying wine for the house and want to keep up and track faves, here's a few tips:
1) Catalog the wine ( what the varietal it is, where the region is and whatever else you want to put in your notes) when when you come home with your purchases.
2) Take a few notes on the wine the day after you enjoy it . If you really have a bad memory, just take abbreviated notes to jog your memory. You don't have to write a novel.
To keep it simple I usually take notes on a 1 -5 ( 1 worst, 5 best) scale and look for:
1) Color 2) Aroma 3) Flavor 4) price to quality .
For home use, you could add 5) Buy....or not....
Also: go with your intuition....every person has a different palate, so you will taste and experience things someone else may not. If you taste a wine that gets a 94 in a huge wine review and it tastes like burnt rubber to you, that's all you need to know. Put your money in things you like....not what other folks tell you you should!
Hope this helps...holler with any other questions!
Mark

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Posted 10:22 am November 13th, 2007
Mark,

What's the best way to track wines that you like ... whether it's in a restaurant, or at home? I find that I typically "binge" buy wine, hitting the store and getting 20 bottles at a time, and then going months without buying any.

That means that by the time I open a given bottle, I often don't remember how much I spent, or what region it came from, or what kind of review it got! And when I like it, I don't usually remember to take note of which wine it was.

What suggestions do you have to try and track favorite wines? I've heard of people keeping journals, or saving wine labels. What do you think is the *best way?