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The Internationalization of Winemaking Style and the Value of Personal Ratings

Response to “In Vino Veritas?” in the Sunday Business Section of the New York Times (Sunday, August 13, 2006)~ Part II

I agree with Rivlin that Robert Parker should receive a great deal of credit and praise for his ability to unilaterally jump start Americans’ consumption of wine in the late 1970’s and throughout the 1990’s. I also believe that the “internationalization” of winemaking is incredibly sad. Big, jammy, highly extracted red wines can be delicious, particularly when from the Central Coast of California, where the temperature, topography, and terroir naturally yield “fruit-bomb” Syrahs and Zinfandels. Part of what makes the journey of wine so appealing is that wines can (and should) differ naturally depending upon where grapes are grown and the training or preferences of the winemaker by whom the wine is made.

Bottlenotes strives to deliver some of the best boutique and estate wines from around the world to our members. A wonderful, positive externality of our service might be the democratization of wine.

If we succeed in capturing 500-100 ratings of an unknown, hidden treasure, one unrated or even poorly rated by the triumvirate, the results could be powerful. For one, the more wine each of our members rates, the better our recommendations will be to that member. Second, if these ratings are aggregated over a statistically significant number of users (aka: “collaborative filtering” in tech speak), Bottlenotes will be able to make recommendations to users with similar preferences, based upon feedback from users with similar preferences. In the end, whose recommendations will you trust more: those of a few, older “white guys,” or those based upon a group of individuals with similar tastes to you? Wine ratings by post-modern American critiques might not pass the sobriety test, to quote Rivlin, but aggregated ratings by statistically significant groups of consumers will in the future.

So pick up a glass- and taste away. Just remember to rate the wine that you taste ~ and a five star scale IS good enough~ in order to better understand which wines are right for you. In time, you will be able to get personalized recommendations based upon your preferences~ at Bottlenotes.com. of course. J

Alyssa Rapp, Founder & CEO, Bottlenotes, Inc

Just for You

Every company tries to tell you they offer something personalized. Just for you. In the wine world, seemingly everywhere you look someone is promising wine "hand-selected" just for you.

The challenge of true personalization is something we take very seriously at Bottlenotes. And despite our highly classified wine taxonomy and taste algorithms, each month we take a real, personal, human look at each and every club member to make sure that we are sending you wine we think you'll love.

There is one important way you can help us help you: rate your wine!. Every time you drink a wine from Bottlenotes, log in to your Virtual Cellar and rate it. If you love it, give it a 5. And if you hate it, give it a 1! No one will be offended... Each wine you rate helps us make your club shipments more personalized, and your Bottlenotes experience even better.

Michael Levinson
VP of Product Development and Finance, Bottlenotes