Dear Member
Firstly, thank you very much, for all the lovely feedback I have received regarding my first newsletter a few weeks back.
It has been fantastic to find out that you enjoyed reading it and found it interesting and helpful. The many email conversations that followed were also a joy, and I hope you found them as enjoyable and interesting as I did.
To get back to the business of grapes, last time we assumed that we did not know what wine we liked and didn’t know where to start.
Hopefully with the tips I gave, you have now made a start and are slowly or quickly (that depends on how much you drink, I guess :) ) starting to understand what you like and don’t like.
Whilst you are on this path of wine discovery, trying out all sorts of different grape varieties and/or wine countries it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of what you have tried, what you still want to try, what you liked and of course what you disliked.
For the ones blessed with a great memory (definitely not me according to my wife!) this might be easy, but for us less fortunate this might be a bit more challenging.
To help with this you can of course simply write down every wine you try, along with your opinion about it. However, personally I think that there is an easier and quicker way, by the means of a simple smartphone app. The app in question is called Vivino and is free to download for anybody. Now I can hear some of you groaning “here we go again I just got used to WhatsApp and now another piece of technology to get used to” but trust me, Vivino is simple to use and will help you keep track of your wine discoveries.
The way it works is very straightforward, the app either lets you search for a wine by typing in its name or producer, or you can take a picture of the label on the bottle and let the app do the rest. Once you have taken a picture the app will search its database and find the wine. Then you have the option to score your wine and/or make notes. By doing this you slowly create a “catalogue” of the wines you have tried and you don’t have to worry about remembering what wine you had a week ago.
Besides creating your “catalogue” it will also give you a whole host of information not only about that wine but also its producer, particular vintage, its rating based on scores from other users, buying options (please do note, that the prices displayed are not always correct for the wine you have scanned, especially with older vintages) etc. This information is fascinating and educational.
I can go on explaining more about the app but I will let you find out yourself if you wish to do so. Rest assured I don’t work for Vivino and I’m not on commission, I just personally feel it is a handy little app helps you keep track of your wine and quickly tells you more about a wine before you purchase it.
Taking about purchasing wine, I have recently bought an American white wine called Dark Horse whilst doing some shopping in Asda. The reason I bought it is very straight forward, I love Chardonnay and I still believe that the USA is underrated by a lot of people as a top wine country. Not only do they make great wine in California (where this wine is from) but also in states like Oregon and Washington, or even on the East Coast in West New York and Central Virginia you can find fantastic wines.
Dark Horse cost me £8.50 and you get a pretty good glass of wine. The wine is slightly oaked and is creamy smooth with lovely fruit flavours like apple, peach and pear. I can describe it in greater detail but to make a long story short, the bottle did not make it to the end of Friday night!!
If you give it a try feel free to let me know what you think.
I hope some of you have found this interesting and do feel free to email me at fandbmanager@thefarmersclub.com if you have any questions or queries.
Cheers!
Jelle
Firstly, thank you very much, for all the lovely feedback I have received regarding my first newsletter a few weeks back.
It has been fantastic to find out that you enjoyed reading it and found it interesting and helpful. The many email conversations that followed were also a joy, and I hope you found them as enjoyable and interesting as I did.
To get back to the business of grapes, last time we assumed that we did not know what wine we liked and didn’t know where to start.
Hopefully with the tips I gave, you have now made a start and are slowly or quickly (that depends on how much you drink, I guess :) ) starting to understand what you like and don’t like.
Whilst you are on this path of wine discovery, trying out all sorts of different grape varieties and/or wine countries it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of what you have tried, what you still want to try, what you liked and of course what you disliked.
For the ones blessed with a great memory (definitely not me according to my wife!) this might be easy, but for us less fortunate this might be a bit more challenging.
To help with this you can of course simply write down every wine you try, along with your opinion about it. However, personally I think that there is an easier and quicker way, by the means of a simple smartphone app. The app in question is called Vivino and is free to download for anybody. Now I can hear some of you groaning “here we go again I just got used to WhatsApp and now another piece of technology to get used to” but trust me, Vivino is simple to use and will help you keep track of your wine discoveries.
The way it works is very straightforward, the app either lets you search for a wine by typing in its name or producer, or you can take a picture of the label on the bottle and let the app do the rest. Once you have taken a picture the app will search its database and find the wine. Then you have the option to score your wine and/or make notes. By doing this you slowly create a “catalogue” of the wines you have tried and you don’t have to worry about remembering what wine you had a week ago.
Besides creating your “catalogue” it will also give you a whole host of information not only about that wine but also its producer, particular vintage, its rating based on scores from other users, buying options (please do note, that the prices displayed are not always correct for the wine you have scanned, especially with older vintages) etc. This information is fascinating and educational.
I can go on explaining more about the app but I will let you find out yourself if you wish to do so. Rest assured I don’t work for Vivino and I’m not on commission, I just personally feel it is a handy little app helps you keep track of your wine and quickly tells you more about a wine before you purchase it.
Taking about purchasing wine, I have recently bought an American white wine called Dark Horse whilst doing some shopping in Asda. The reason I bought it is very straight forward, I love Chardonnay and I still believe that the USA is underrated by a lot of people as a top wine country. Not only do they make great wine in California (where this wine is from) but also in states like Oregon and Washington, or even on the East Coast in West New York and Central Virginia you can find fantastic wines.
Dark Horse cost me £8.50 and you get a pretty good glass of wine. The wine is slightly oaked and is creamy smooth with lovely fruit flavours like apple, peach and pear. I can describe it in greater detail but to make a long story short, the bottle did not make it to the end of Friday night!!
If you give it a try feel free to let me know what you think.
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I hope some of you have found this interesting and do feel free to email me at fandbmanager@thefarmersclub.com if you have any questions or queries.
Cheers!
Jelle
