Brett happens

It has been pointed out that, however useful some may find the tasting notes posted on this blog, searching for wines in a given price range is next to impossible. As a result, I’ve begun adding price range tags for the wines I review. Clicking on a tag will display the notes for all the reviewed wines in the associated price range.

At this point, only wines reviewed since January 1, 2015, have the tags. Time permitting, I may add them for wines reviewed before then, though inflation makes going very far back pointless: “$30 is the new $20,” as the title of a post I’ve been meaning to write says.

Since WordPress doesn’t allow symbols (including dollar signs) in tags, names, not dollar amounts, are used for the various ranges.

Here are the tags and what they mean:

Inexpensive: under $20
Affordable: $20 to $29.99
Mid-priced: $30 to $39.99
Upper mid: $40 to $59.99
Expensive: $60 to $100
Luxury: over $100

The ranges are, of course, arbitrary and subjective. Many people would scoff at calling a $19 bottle inexpensive or a $39 bottle mid-priced. On the other hand, some affluent wine lovers consider $60 wines to be affordable, everyday drinking. In settling on these tags, I’ve tried not to be too untethered from reality but also, in view of the inevitability of price hikes, to future-proof the ranges to some degree to avoid having constantly to adjust them (as The Gazette‘s Bill Zarcharkiw has just done again). I’ve also tried to avoid tag names that could be interpreted as passing judgment on the product; that’s why it’s “inexpensive” and not “cheap,” “expensive” and not “treat” (not all inexpensive wines taste cheap, not all $75 wines are a treat to drink).

The tags will be found at the bottom of each wine review post and on a page I’ll be adding to the list in the right-hand column. They’ll also show up in the tag cloud eventually.

Since a number of readers don’t actually visit this site but receive post-only updates by email or RSS feed, here’s a heads-up about two new additions to the Pages section at the top of the right-hand column.

First, a master list of Quebec wine agencies, with links to each agency’s website and/or AQAVBS or RASPIPAV profile. Keeping track of agencies is, to paraphrase Bob Thompson, like trying to take a census in a rabbit warren, so this is a work in progress. As time permits, links are also being added to agencies’ blogs and Facebook and Twitter pages.

Second, in response to popular demand, a Contact page for people who want to send me a private message.