Scoring system

Two scores per bottle. One for taste, one for value.

For taste we'll call it The Swig Scale. Scoring as follows:

1 Swig: Utter garbage. Better used as cheap cooking wine than for human comsumption. Hell, for that matter, don't taint an otherwise good meal with this swill. Great gift idea... for your enemies. Single swigs mean I dumped the bottle.

2 Swigs: Underwhelming or tastes like crap, but not so bad I'd dump the bottle. Good to drink with friends with little to no clue about how a good bottle tastes, but don't embarrass yourself and buy it. Just try and keep from turning your nose up when they bring this over. A 2 means I'd never buy it again. Avoid. Two Buck Chuck is a good example.

3 Swigs: Not bad... not bad. A 3 means I'd tell you to go and buy it. It won't impress you unless you're that clueless person who thinks 2's are as good as a 5, but I wouldn't shy away from it. I'd buy it again if the value is there. Lacking something that I may/may not be able to put my finger on. Odds are I'll forget about this bottle and how good/bad I thought it was. Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zin is a 3. By the way, that's my standby bottle.

4 Swigs: Wow. Now we're getting serious. Great flavor, drinkable, good body, all of that. It has nothing to complain about at all. It didn't knock my socks off, but it left me saying "hey, I would buy this again in a heartbeat!". Bring by to impress someone who has a modicrum of a clue in regards to wine (i.e. a guy like me).

5 Swigs: I've only had three bottles in my life so far that rate this. Complex flavor, tasty, calling it drinkable is an insult. You'd cry if you didn't get the last glass. You may lick the insides of the glass to get every drop. A dude like me drinks this and thinks that wine can't get better than this. Go buy it not matter what the value score is. These should impress any wine drinker, no matter how uppity.

Yep, nice and scientific.

The Bang scale is the value score.

1 Bang: Over priced. If the swig score is at least a 3, get it... but only on sale. You may also lick the glass for a 1 Bang but that's only because you're hoping to get as much as you can out of this over priced thing.

2 Bangs: On par for the taste, i.e. my$17 for that bottle was well worth it and I'd pay it again. If the Swig is a 3-5 and you see it on sale, buy it up!

3 Bangs: Someone at the store HAD to mismark this one. No idea how a wine of this quality was priced this low. Usually a 'sleeper' of a wine. You know, avoided by the snobs because it's priced below $30, gets 4 or 5 Swigs, and goes head to head with their bottle that's twice as pricey.