Are VIVINO Tasting Notes useful? The BLIND experiment.

Hi my name is console dimbaum I'm a Master of wine and today we're playing Around with the world's most widely used Wine app vivino I often meet people who Tell me how great vivino is and I Recently had a conversation with a fan About the usefulness of their Descriptions and their ratings so I'm Going to put their descriptions through The test and I will blind taste these Wines and see whether I can match them To their descriptions from vivino which Are printed on these cards so we are Going to find out whether a swarm of Wine lovers can produce great wine Descriptions or not so shall we find out Let's go [Music] I'm regularly surprised to see how many Wine enthusiasts are using the wine app Vivino I don't think wine professionals Are as excited about the app and I Rarely use it but that doesn't really Matter there are more than 60 million Users on the platform who've added more Than 250 million ratings and close to 90 Million wine descriptions quite Impressive in addition to the rating in The tasting node you can also find a Taste summary that shows you for example How light or heavier a wine is you can Also see which flavor groups are Mentioned most often in the wine Descriptions so there's quite a lot of

Information there I'm curious to find Out whether a group of wine drinkers can Really create wine descriptions that Help me make educated decisions I Therefore asked Leon to pick six wines And I don't know I'm going to blind Taste them and then I'm going to try to Match them to their wine descriptions From vivino this is going to be a little Bit different but I think it's going to Be fun so let's dive in alright why not Number one is very fruit driven fresh There's apple and pear flavors coming Through on the palette it's quite round Rich there's also acidity there but it's Not the most pronounced acidity for me This appears to be like a Pinot Gris Style or a lugana We had lugana quite a few times to be Honest when I touch this bottle and this Bottle shape kind of reminds me of one Lugana producer But yeah I don't really know I think This is a fruit driven quite vibrant Fresh well made white wine that isn't Extraordinary but pretty nice way number Two is more tuned down it's less Pronounced in its aromatics there's a Little bit of Apple there but yeah it's Less pronounced I think this could be Many things what really points Me In One Direction is the slight pepperiness the White pepper that I get on this wine This reminds me of una vedlina but it

Could also be a Pinot block it could be Maybe even a Shannon or something Something like that not very aromatic But pretty interesting I really feel Wine number three it's not aromatic Again it's quite yeah delicate in flavor And there's again like this white fruit Apple pear character but there's also Quite a lot of yeastiness there and There's tomato sauce for whatever reason Not necessarily something that I often Get in white wines on the palette it's Fresh vibrant good structure there's Also a little bit of yeah creaminess From contact with the leaves could be a Chennai Blanc it could be maybe Um something that I don't know some Weird grape variety it also reminds me Quite a bit of aborino and this is I Think where I'm going to land here I Think the yeastiness the freshness the Vibrancy the grip concentration that's Kind of aberrinu for me why number four Is a red wine and it's quite a dense and Concentrated red wine the color is very Dark really purple it smells quite spicy And there's black black berry Cassis Flavors coming through a little bit of Pepper as well the plant is actually Grippy the Tans are quite Harsh so there's a lot there for me this Could be cabinet this could be Surah or Shiraz this could be my back Surah Because of the pepperinas Cabernet

Because of the structure of the tannins But I think actually we are just looking At the overall composition and the color Of the wine I'd say it's probably on my Back I'm not sure whether it's French or Argentinian I mean there are other Options but those are the more obvious Ones but I'm probably going for France Here Point number five is kind of Lighter in color it's also lighter in Flavor there's even some strawberry There so not dark fruits but more red Fruits plus a little bit of dark fruits On the palette it's actually quite juicy Round and velvety there's also some Sweet Oak here I would say this is Probably a Merlot and I don't see this As a old word wine I think this is more A new word kind of plush and round Style I'm probably going for California here Could also be Washington State there's Some great Melos coming out of Washington but yeah I think I'm in California here round and juicy mellow Sometimes plant taste things are not Just about taste smell and what you see In the glass sometimes it's also the Weight of the bottle this is a super Heavy bottle Which kind of already points me into One Direction even though Could be lots of different options but Um Yeah I already have something in mind I

Hope I'm not going in the wrong Direction just because of the weight of The bottle but the flavor kind of Confirms that to me there's raisins There's really ripe fruit there's Cherries it's kind of rich On the palette and also some tenants There but there's also quite a bit of Sweetness so for me this reminds me very Much of uh Primitivo from Puglia from The south of Italy like made with Raisin Grapes and made in a really rich and Brown style there's also quite a lot of Sweet Oak there vanilla and so on so That's consistent with Primitivo from Puya so now let's get into the big Reveal I have these six envelopes with Tasting notes here I'm just picking them In a random order and I'm going to see Whether I can mention it let's go I'll Start with what is this turquoise green Whatever This one so the tasting note reads Intense ruby red color in the glass on The nose very powerful complex Aromas of Plums black cherries with notes of Tobacco vanilla and spices on the palate Full body with soft round tennis No tennis and a very long finish Cheers for whatever reason under what Does this wine taste like it says it's Pretty bold it's kind of smooth it's in The middle between dry and sweet so There's some sugar there but it's not

Really sweet and it's pretty soft and The aroma groups are vanilla chocolate Plum blackberry and cherry red fruit Okay for me this is kind of easy I think The description really well encapsulates The essence of wine number six a rich Full-bodied red wine with a little bit Of sugar and yeah like I said I think This is a Primitivo from Puglia probably A pretty good one Um those wines are often buckled in These big bottles and let's find out Whether I'm right Okay I know this label very well I Actually think have haven't we tasted This wine before on this channel I'm not 100 sure but yeah it's One of the most famous producers from The region one of the most famous labels From the region and let's see what uh my Yeah the description is actually for This wine for the 2017 Cantina San Marzano sesandani Old Vine Primitivo di Manduria so One for one so let's move on to the pink Envelope and let's see What the description says dark fruits Leather and earthiness young structural And thin medium plus body medium tenons So there's a WSET student at work here Medium acidity dry 3.8 is the rating I Think Well it says grape but it's blacked out And then Plum dark fruit Oak black

Cherry black fruit leather earthy Palette Plum Blackberry black cherry dark fruit Like fruit leather earthy Black Plum Mint slate cheers does it always have to Say cheers in the end I don't really Know but this description for me is a Little bit Wild Um I think actually mentioning too many Flavors doesn't really help this Describes a pretty earthy wine that also Is leathery Um the tenants medium I'm really not Sure whether this Is matching what I would have thought This wine might be from the aromatics Alone it actually says it's more of a Bold one it's between smooth and tannic It's pretty dry but not totally dry and It's between soft and acidic yeah to be Honest I think this is not a great Description my feeling is that this Describes wine number four the first red Wine of which I thought this was a mild Back maybe from kahoa in France could be Argentinian but I'm just going to come Down on France Um but yeah I think this description Doesn't really give me all the Information I want I'm also pretty sure That this one is 100 dry and it's Actually quite tannic on the wine taste Indicator actually says it's more

Towards smooth and kind of in the middle I actually thought it was quite intense And tannic Um but anyways let's see whether I was Right so this is wine number four for me Quite an edgy and slightly spicy wine so That is correct in the description in my Opinion but it's quite structured so the Towns are much more forthcoming than What the description kind of indicates Lots of talents so I think This description is off and it didn't Really help me also this is 100 dry I Think this might have maximum one gram Of sugar so I don't think the Description is really good I don't think This taste indicator is really spot on On this wine No that's just my feeling so I said why Number three is a mild back from KOA so Let's see first of all whether I was Right there And it is a my back from Argentina so That was kind of my backup option I Think it's quite a structured my back For it to come out of Argentina but Tsukadi is a top producer from Argentina And their wines tend to be a little bit More structured and Earthly Um but yeah this is 100 dry and it's Tannic it's quite intense but let's see Whether this description was for a Totally different wine and it is sucati Siri are not back so

This is this one So you got that wrong I tell you well no I'm not going to complain I just don't Think that this description was all that Helpful so now we are moving on to the Baby blue envelope and let's find out Which one this is on the nose Almond Blossom Peach Citrus flinty minerality Rich and viscous mouth feel yellow Peach Apricot lemon zest pink grapefruit Wet Stone minerality you all know what I Think of minerality but anyways bitter Green almonds saline finish very Refreshing with lots of acidity Well So it's kind of in the middle between Bold and light according to the why what Does this wine taste like thing it's [ __ ] dry but not really dry and it's Kind of between soft and acidic and I'm Not really sure which one this talks About in my opinion in the description There's again too many flavor indicators I think there's scientific research Stating that you can't really identify More than three flavors in one liquid And these are clearly more than three so Quite a lot of them so I don't really Think it helps me in this case and in The Taste summary I think the slider Between dry and sweet isn't really Useful because we just had dry wines Here and this is again almost in the Middle

Between dry and sweet and yeah there Wasn't an off dry white wine and I think This is a white wine from the Description so I don't really think that Makes a lot of sense it's also kind of Contradicting the description here so The acidity is between soft and acidic And it actually says in the description Very refreshing with lots of acidity so There's a bit of a contradiction there However I think from this description I Would go for wine number three the one That I thought was an Albarino I think Peaches in Africa's are flavors that are Found in here I didn't find any notes of Yeastiness in the description so I think That's an important element in this one In my opinion at least but let's first See whether I was actually right Okay I was right it's uh either Reno from Vino Verde and it's one of the best Producers in the region so like solar Yero I think it's pronounced Um a really great example of this wine Style Beautiful but let's see whether the Description was actually for that one Because I'm Not so certain it could have been wine Number two as well but let's have a look What the so this description is actually Foreign And I thought why number one was a

Lugana and I'm pretty sure that it's Actually this wine and I think the Description just yeah that just doesn't Work at all in my opinion for lucana I I Think the minerality bitter green Almonds the salinity that's for me sorry That's definitely not lugana I actually Agree now more with the slider between Dry and sweet because I think there's Some residual sugar there to give the Wine a little bit more plushness and Roundness but in that case the Description was off very refreshing with Lots of acidity no this is more of a Pleasant mouth feel kind of wine that is Round and Rich I I don't understand so Let's do the baby pink envelope and Let's see What is in there Lots of lingering flavors from start to Finish texture is creamy and light with A tingling of flavors popping through Hints of Oak and herbal Botanicals bring A sophistication to the well-balanced Lime green apple lemony Peach and dried Apricot so it actually says the wine is Light it's dry very dry and it's acidic So it's high in acidity But from the flavor I'm a little bit confused I I don't get The oak The herbal Botanicals maybe I don't Actually find the essence of any of the Remaining candidates in this description

So left over we have the solaro which we Now know I identified correctly in the Blind tasting was an avarino and the Other one would be the wine that I Thought was a kuna feltlina and I I think both of them didn't have any Orc Um there's no pepperiness here from the Gun of Atlanta there's no Other Yeastiness of the solar yellow I mean it Says texture is creamy and light creamy I understand so it could really be both Wines I don't really I'm I'm really unsure so Because it says the texture is creamy I'm going for the alvarino again but it Could really also be the the other one I'm just really unsure here but hints of Oak I don't think this was Oak H but I Can get how you might think this is Slightly Oaky I cannot understand that so I think this Is this is this let's find out Yes [Music] So this is actually the young ones wine So the entry level and it's already Pretty damn good and I'm happy that I Actually matched this wine correctly This time so let's move on to the white Envelope kind of boring let's see what The description says pale yellow with Medium plus intensity another wsct

Student dry medium plus acidity medium Alcohol and body with Aromas of lime Apple ripe pear bell pepper and wet Stone quite useful quite good medium Class wine not worth of of salary so This is clearly a white wine because of The pale yellow with medium plus Intensity I think for me this is more White pepper but I can understand what This person is indicating on the taste Profile it's more towards the light it's Very dry More towards acidic and I think this is Actually wine number three the one that I thought was a una Fatina Let's see so I actually got that wrong Wine number two was the one that I Thought was a green effect Lina and I Think this description is pretty spot on I think Yeah it makes quite a lot of sense and I'm kind of confident that I'm right but First of all let's have a look whether This is actually the wine that I thought Was guravelina from Austria and Universe from Austria and from one of The top producers in the domain in Austria a really great producer run by a Fellow MW and this is a good entry level Karina effectlina it's not nothing to Rave about I actually had a Riesling From this estate from 1982 fairly Recently and that was just beautiful I Don't think this is as long-lived but

They produce some wines that can yeah That live for a long time this is more The fresh entry level kind of style Great with the Wienerschnitzel let's Find out whether the tasting node was Actually for this one yeah Foreign Got that right so as we've now got all Of the white tasting notes out of the Way I can reveal this wine which is the Ifrati lugana Del frati to be honest Like I said I kind of already identified This from the bottle shape this is a Pretty special bottle shape so sometimes The bottle really really helps Um good example I just completely Disagree with the chasing note on vivino I'm sorry so the last tasting note is Bright orange and Let's see what it says nose of dark Fruit Oak chocolate Violet mint and Dried herbs palette of blackberry sauce And crushed blueberries with a heavy Serving of vanilla extract licorice Black pepper and Nutmeg wispy tannins Lengthy finish the taste summary says It's very bold it's between smooth and Tannic it's dry And it's between soft and acidic so I Actually think this is a fairly good Description of the wine number Five especially the the description the Tasting note is pretty much spot on I Think it's a little less tannic than

Indicated here maybe also not as bold It's not like full on board I don't Think this is like the the Primitivo That was fully on board this is maybe One step down it's not a light one but Not the most bold one Um but yeah I feel comfortable with Matching this to Wine number five so From the tasting notes there are no real Indicators what this person thought this Wine might be I thought this was a Merlot from California because of the Richness and opulence and the roundness The vanilla I get that as well might be Some American Oak in here Um but let's have a look Whoa okay okay damn so I was kind of Halfway there it's from California but It's a Cabernet Sauvignon I just think It's a very smooth Cabernet and it's a Very light colored Cabernet for me this Is more Merlot in style I mean the color Look at the color it's kind of you can See your hand through it almost yeah I Don't think this is the most typical Cabin name but it's a really well made Wine and I think the description here Was pretty spot on so let's just confirm Yep this is for the decoy and Cabernet Sauvignon Yeah so this was fun different kind of Interesting as well I think Um well I wouldn't trust the Descriptions on vivino 100 I think

Somewhere really useful but some were a Little bit too much too many descriptors And maybe not the right ones to put me Into the right direction I mean you all Kind of played it along with me so maybe For you the descriptions were spot on Just comment down below and let me know What you think about those descriptions I think it sometimes helps to have the Advice of a professional someone who's Done this lots and lots of times before Maybe there are also some cases on Vivino that write really great Descriptions I just didn't think they Were as helpful as the descriptions I Find on the websites of real Professionals but maybe that's just my Taste my favorite wine from this tasting Was easily the solaro a really great Expressive alvarino so this is Definitely recommended so thank you for Watching if you like this video then Please like it down here subscribe to my Channel I'm trying to get to 100 000 Subscribers this year so tell your Friends and please do subscribe it Really helps me out it helps out this Channel I hope I see you guys again soon Until then stay thirsty Thank you