Introducing: The Cellar Badges

I am excited to join the Revolución, as it were, of my good friends at VinTank, as Paul Mabray recently described on their We Are VinTank blog (Scores, we don’t need no stinkin’ scores!). I join my good friend Ward Kadel and revered Master of Wine Mark de Vere in this endeavor, in this new journey into the undiscovered country of The Wine Badges. Not that I will completely stop scoring wine or anything… but this is new. New is fun. And fun is what this guy is all about.

This information will have a permanent home here, and linked in the sidebar.

The Cellar Badges are a new paradigm in wine scoring. Viva la Revolución!

Instead of scoring wines using my not-exactly-patented grading system, wines reviewed under the auspices of The Cellar Badges will be assigned a badge (hence the name). Each badge grants to the wine lucky enough to receive it certain recognition, recognition of characteristics.

What characteristics? Depends on the badge.

Classique des Classiques Classique des Classiques — Highly typical wines of one of the most classic French-roots varieties (cab sauv, merlot, syrah, pinot noir, malbec, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, semillon, chenin blanc, viognier).

Supermarket Surprise Supermarket Surprise — Surprisingly good wine, possibly available in supermarkets, and priced under $15.

Tall, Dark, and Handsome Tall, Dark, and Handsome — A wine that is very dark in the glass and features dark notes (espresso/coffee, tobacco, chocolate, etc).

Tropical Vacation Approved! Tropical Vacation Approved! — A white that shies away from both the “butter/oak” paradigm and the “apple/pear” paradigm to feature tropical notes like pineapple, banana, mango, etc.

I Can't Believe It's Not Brunello I Can’t Believe It’s Not Brunello — Sangiovese other than Brunello di Montalcino that rocks socks.

Legit Juice Legit Juice — Just an awesome wine, all around, regardless of the style. Really, among the best of the best there is.

New School Superstar New School Superstar — A New World or New World Style wine that is above the fray.

Way Down South Way Down South — Awesome wine from the southern hemisphere.

Sparklin' Sparklin’! — A great sparkling wine.

So stay tuned, keep your eyes peeled, and you might even see some of The Cellar Badges out in the wild!

Related Reviews:

  1. 2008 Tierra del Corazon Cabernet Sauvignon
  • http://topsy.com/notesfromthecellar.com/2010/08/introducing-the-cellar-badges/?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2 Tweets that mention Introducing: The Cellar Badges | Notes From The Cellar — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by pmabray, Ward Kadel – @drXeNo, Ward Kadel – @drXeNo, vintank, Steve Paulo and others. Steve Paulo said: New Notes: Introducing: The Cellar Badges http://j.mp/cImZeX #wine [...]

  • http://www.winelog.net/blogs/drxeno Ward Kadel – @drXeNo

    Nice work, mang. I'm looking forward to seeing these out and about as our revolution spreads!

  • vinotology

    Thank God! I've been waiting for this day for so long, it has brought a tear to my eye. :) Seriously, I'm excited.

  • http://sunshinemug.com/ sunshinemug

    This is my kind of revolution! Let's hope it will be televised… or at least retweeted. :)

  • http://notesfromthecellar.com Steve Paulo

    Fair enough, Chris. I still go back to what I said above:

    “…this is new. New is fun. And fun is what this guy is all about.”

    Thanks for being a fan!

  • http://www.vintuba.com ChrisO Vintuba.com

    I like the badges, the design, and the idea but am left wondering how does this make wine reviewing more approachable, or gives the consumer an idea of what to expect? The true wine revolution will come when we can aggregate the reviews and scores of the many, not when we continue to fragment by adding new and different ones to the mix.

    I think the power in the true revolution will come if and when fellow bloggers decide/agree on a set of badges/standards and use them across wine blogs, this would make it much more impactful and move the needle. To quote Mr Spock “the needs of the many out way the needs of the few” After all Cellar Tracker does this and I think it is much more representative of the quality of a wine then WS or RP points.

    Just to reiterate I feel that this is not the solution to making wine more approachable or easier to understand it is like Rober Parkers 100 point scale merely the representation of one persons preferences and opinions.

    It is time for a wine democracy that will depose the wine Oligarchy! vive la vin!

    PS love your blog!!!!

  • http://www.vintuba.com ChrisO Vintuba.com

    Steve- I will drink to that. Cheers!

  • Tom Merle

    Yup, the wisdom of crowds via CellarTracker offers the best solution. The composite scores with a standard deviation will give the consumer the best guidance.

    TOM

  • http://notesfromthecellar.com Steve Paulo

    Tom, it also takes all the fun out of it.

    Seriously, though, the BEST way for a serious wine consumer to get advice about what wine they're likely to enjoy is to read different reviewers, try wines they like, and see if you agree. Find the writers whose taste matches as closely as possible to yours. Find your “taste tribe,” as the newfangled buzzword goes.

    CellarTracker is useful, of course, but if your palate doesn't match up with “the norm,” they aren't going to be helpful. I can't find highly-rated cat's piss sauv blancs on CT.

  • http://www.suburbanwino.com suburbanwino

    See ChrisO's comment on my feelings. That being said, it's a neat idea, and fun is fun (not as in defining what fun is…well sort of. Shit.)

    I look forward to creating badges for PW's…as long as all wines can be related to characters in “The Scarecrow & Mrs. King”

  • Douglas

    I totally agree the pt system isn't solving the real problem that consumers are having , because if your taste doesn't match RP, or ST, or whomever, what's the answer? “Too bad”?

    I fully support the idea that its the consumer's taste that matters, and while badges or other rating systems can help, they all seem to revolve around the important point that the ratings ultimately have to be given BY THE CONSUMER drinking the wine.

    We think we might be on to something with the notion of taste for yourself:
    http://www.tastingroom.com/samplers/

  • Tom Merle

    Talk about taking the fun out of seeking guidance, Steve. Your system is too much work. Crowd sourcing is predicated on finding the widest bell curve and going with probabilities. Sure there will be some outliers who like cat piss, but not too many. A 90 on CT means that a wide range of palates find the wine in question delicious.

  • Tom Merle

    Very clever approach, though by necessity you offer a pretty small universe of wines. User sites like Trip Advisor, Yelp, Engadget identify a great many items, services, experiences etc. that have broad appeal (or not).

  • http://www.vintuba.com ChrisO Vintuba.com

    Tom- I totally agree!

  • http://drinknectar.com/2010/08/12/changing-the-wine-world-one-badge-at-a-time/ Changing the Wine World One Badge at a Time | Drink Nectar

    [...] have currently been employed by Ward Kadel (DrXeNo), Mark de Vere (MdV MW), and more recently Steve Paulo (Notes from the Cellar). Steve currently has 9 badges while the other two writers have implemented [...]

  • Anonymous

    Did you really just reference Scarecrow & Mrs. King?
    I bow to your superior 80s wisdom, but I will be creating my personal badges based on Wonder Woman. Yep.

  • Jane

    Founds your blog after making my way here from Winethropology. Good stuff.

  • http://twitter.com/jqquah Jing Qi Quah

    I love the badges. May I ask your permission for me to use it on my wine blog?

  • http://notesfromthecellar.com Steve Paulo

    As long as you give credit back to me whenever you use it, you can use any of the content on my blog. Have fun!