Dear Wine Geometry amateurs,
Happy New Year 2017 ! I wish you all a healthy year of wine tastings and pairings, and inevitably the joy and brotherhood that goes along with the wine drinking!
My aim is as always to help YOU, wine consumers, to better understand what you are buying in the shop, to make sure you're not getting ripped off.
Well, I've been using this app myself as a beginner, and I must say, it's quite a relevant benchmark on wines around the world.
It's called VIVINO. Do hurry to download it on your mobile phone now! The principle is simple:
You pick a bottle of wine in the supermarket, any bottle, and you take a photo of its label. The app will recognize in seconds where it comes from, and will give you its rating from all users who have rated it through this app, as well as its average price on the market (usually, a price you would find in Europe, in euros).
The rating is out of 5, and below you can read all comments from users (mostly reliable users) about what you can find in that particular wine. Some experts even dare to give it an international rating out of 100.
What I've found out from all the label snapshots I've made, is the following:
- Rating: all decent wines will be rated somewhere between 3.6 and 4.5. But there is quite a gap between wines above 4.0 and the rest. So if you score a 4.4, run for it!
- Price: the price you will find in Singapore is usually x1.8 the average price you will find on this app. This difference is mainly due to Import tax on alcohol (9$ a bottle), distributor margin (20-30%), retailer margin (20%), and transport cost (up to 20%)
For example, in the wines I have already advised you in my blog:
- Jacques Boyd Margaux (Bordeaux, Haut-Medoc, 2011) is a 4.1 on Vivino, at 34 euros average price in France. On ChateauAsia, it is at 69 SGD, which is quite a good deal!
- Chateau Pape Clement (Bordeaux, Pessac 2014) is a 4.4 on Vivino, at 77 euros average price in France. Here, you can find a 2012 of the same wine at 178 SGD, also a great deal.
- Chateau Chasse Spleen (Bordeaux, Moulis-en-Medoc, 2008) is a 3.8 (but deserves better!), at 35 euros average price in France. Here, you'll find it at 75 SGD for a 2012 edition.
Users, to your apps!
Sylvain
