Basic Layout of Reviews

Hey everyone,

So here I will explain the format we will use to review every wine. Of course the reviews will develop over time (hopefully with input an suggestions from our readers!) and you may notice we add or take away things for different posts as we develop our style. So here is the basic layout we will be using:

Name: Name of the wine

Price: Whatever we paid and where we got it

TLDR: Each wine will get a Yay, Meh, or Nay rating, accompanied by one of the faces below.

Alcohol Content: A lot of sweet wines tend to be higher in alcohol, since they have more sugar.

Residual Sugar: Some wines list it, some wines don't. The residual sugar is a good indicator of the sweetness of the wine.

Vintage: This means the year the grapes were grown, which gives you an idea of whether the weather - and therefore the grapes - were good that year. When people say, "That was a good year for wine," they usually mean the weather created very flavorful grapes and a decent crop.

Winery: Where it was made, the region, and a little bit about the winery

Varietal: This is the type of grape in the wine. I didn't realize the types of wine were named after the main type of grape in the wine, at least in New World wines (see FAQ for New World vs. Old World here) until recently. SO if a wine is called a Merlot, that means that at least 75% of the wine (at least in the US) must be from Merlot grapes.

About the Grape: We'll try to give some general information about the flavor profile that is common to the grape varietal used.

Bottle Description: We'll post whatever the back of the bottle says the wine tastes like. Keep in mind a lot of the big wineries have a marketing team that just makes up descriptions willy-nilly to slap on that bottle and get it out to the shelves, sometimes without even tasting it. So, don't always believe the bottle.

Color: Self explanatory.

Nose: This is the notes in the smell of the wine. Get this by swirling the glass a bit and then sniffing. Red generally have more of a robust nose than whites.

Taste: This will include our perception of the flavors of the wines. This will also include things like tannin level (how much it dries your mouth out), acidity (how much it makes your mouth water), body (how thick the wine feels), and fruitiness vs. earthiness.

Finish: This is the aftertaste and how long it hangs around in your mouth.

Decanted: If the wine is very tannin-y (ie: our mouths feels like sandpaper after a sip), we'll put it in the decanter and try it again after the tannins have softer. Some wines need more exposure to air to be able to drink.

Sweet: We'll try it paired with chocolate and describe how that changes the taste.

Spicy: We'll try it paired with spicy jerky and describe how that changes the taste. Side note - higher alcohol wines will make your mouth BURN with spicy foods, so beware.

Salty: We'll try it paired with a salty cracker and describe how that changes the taste.

Cheese: We'll try it paired with cheddar and describe how that changes the taste.

Keep in mind that everyone's palate is different, and that's ok. Palate and ability to pick out flavors gets built over time, and we are still building ours! We also understand that there are probably other things we could discuss with wines, and that a chocolate bar and a square of cheddar don't fully capture the complexity of how different foods will pair with the wines. I love cheese, but I'm lazy and don't have time to go through 20 different types of cheeses for each wine. So, you get the tip of the iceberg from us, and then you can experiment with different pairings and leave us comments on how it went! And to be honest, most of these wines we are drinking with the purpose to sit and drink, not to extravagantly pair with meals. BUT you do you, and let us know if you find a magical match.

If you have any ideas of anything else we should add or review for each wine, leave it in the comments or contact us at winesweetwineblog@gmail.com. Or, if you have an idea for a wine review, we'd love to hear that too. We go to Total Wine at least twice a month, and are always looking for good new recommendations. Enjoy!