What do you want to learn from a tasting note?

[Ozzie W]

Interested in what people are seeking from tasting notes. More than one option allowed.

[Mahmoud Ali]

I included the first option even though I dislike the term "technical characteristics of the wine" as it implies a verbose listing of a cornucopia of flowers, fruits, spices and herbs when in fact I prefer a brief impression of the nose and palate.

Mahmoud.

[Ian S]

I agree with Mahmoud (and it was the first one I selected). TORB was a great influence in emphasing this ought to go beyond the 'fruit salad' descriptors and put just as much effort into describing what the tannins were like, acidity, etc.

The 2nd one I selected, was really just to say for them to write as they wish, so the wine helps remind them of it when they think of opening another bottle, or are considering buying more / a more recent vintage. For me this is a factor, as I sense people don't post TNs because they think they might be a 'bit rubbish'. As long as it's of use to them, then that's one person who appreciates it, and if you've found one person who appreciates it, there will be more!

The 3rd one I selected was drinking window (though my drinking window is my mouth ). I'll give some praise here to critic Jeremy Oliver. It is very clear from his drinking windows that he doesn't try to be overly precise. Just 8 or 9 brackets e.g. 12-20 is one bracket, 20-30 is another and so on. Even with wines he drinks year in and year out, he doesn't try an fiddle about. The lack of spurious accuracy is very much appreciated. Thus I'm more than happy if someone just writes 'medium to long term cellaring', or 'cellar for a little less than normal' i.e. no faux precision, because they are not a precise science and different people have differing opinions of when a wine is ready / at peak / on the decline.

The first two are essential IMO, without which it's not of much value. The 3rd is useful but I've no complaints if they don't pass comment on it.

I've no problem with none, some or all of the others being mentioned. Entirely up to them.

[winetastic]

Basically all of the above for me, though not necessarily all in every tasting note, just the ones which are most relevant.

Agree in general about avoiding the "shopping list" of aromas and flavours, however at times this can be an effective means of communicating complexity or regional typicity.

[TiggerK]

Acid, alcohol, oak and tannins for me. How much or what is noticeable all gives me an idea as to what drives the wine. The drinking window is so subjective, but can be nice as it often gives an indication of structure and of a need to decant if drinking early.

[Michael McNally]

For me it's the flavour profile (for example I generally prefer black fruits to red fruits in my red) and what it tastes like. Yes some of the other stuff is interesting, but I want to hear the flavours I can expect - also whether it is savoury and/or complex.

Cheers

Michael

[Ozzie W]

Thanks to everyone for voting and for all the comments. Ideally tasting notes would always include all the above, so everyone can get what's important to them. When it comes to professional reviewers, there is often limited space available, so I think they need to choose their words very carefully. For example, it really irks me when they waste precious words describing the production process (e.g. how long a wine was fermented for) at the expense of how the wine actually tastes. Interesting to see "drinking window" rank so highly. That's a must have for me too.

Thinking about this a bit more, I should have added ABV as an option to the poll. That's something I tend to look at these days. Not sure why I missed that. Doh! Maybe that's what the 2 "other" votes were looking for.

[Ian S]

Hi Ozzie
Gambero Rosso guide used to take that that a step further, chuntering on about what a lovely family it was, how they all worked very hard etc. and then having little space left to describe the wines! One of the reasons I try to pick up the Duemilavini (now called Bibenda Wine) is that they have decent tasting notes for many of the wines, even if (barring the 2012 edition) that means translating from Italian language to make sense of it (good practice for winery visits though!).
regards
Ian

[Ian S]

One final thought.

I'm NOT looking for someone to tell me whether I would enjoy the wine or not. I'm happy though for them to tell me whether they liked the wine. More important is to describe the wine that allows me to get a feel for whether I would like it.

[Wizz]

When I write tasting notes, one method I use is to focus on the top three things that stand out about the wine, good or bad, irrespective of whether they are technical, emotional or descriptive. I like to read tasting notes for this sort of thing too.