Are you looking for reviews?

As a teacher I’m awash in numbers and data and objective ratings. But wine isn’t objective. It’s subjective. Wine will taste one way to me, another to Matt, another to Gary, and yet another to you. I may taste boysenberry and cherries, and my cherry-loathing husband might taste stink bugs and sunscreen. (And sometimes, I just picked it for the label. Can’t lie.)

I ask because Lenn Thompson of the New York Cork Report (excellent wine blog, by the way) posted a few weeks ago about changing the rating system on that site. Eric of the Terroirists posts about why numerical scores need to go gently into that good night. The Wine Curmudgeon agrees, and goes a step further to say that scores diminish the variety available in regional wine (i.e., a Maryland cabernet franc isn’t a California cabernet franc, and shouldn’t be). And then there’s the ScoRevolution, where the magic of Web 2.0 lets you sign a manifesto saying that you don’t like numbered wines.

We generally don’t post a lot of reviews, let alone use a rating system. I personally, for the reasons above, wasn’t looking to start using numbers a la Robert Parker and many wine publications. But if that’s what you’re looking for, let me know in the comments below.

And while we’re at it, what else are you looking for here at VinoTrip?

Although the chart identifies the numerous ways in which underage kids gain access to alcohol, noticeably absent is any mention whatsoever of the Internet.

The post along with detailed charts and graphs can be found here.

Hearing is at 1:15
MD Senate Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
2 West, Miller Senate Building
11 Bladen St
Annapolis, MD 21401
Map

Full hearing schedule slate can be found on the MD legislature website.

If you’re into Facebook, you can join the cause.

Previous Vinotrip coverage here

Senator Jamie Raskin, coming out of District 20 (the Fightin’ Twentieth!) has introduced what looks to be the same bill that was shot down in 2008. SB-338 (here is last year’s: SB-616) went through the first reading in the Health and Environmental Affairs committee on Jan 29.

Short synopsis – Us Marylanders are trying to pick up the same privilege that Virginians and Washingtonians enjoy: that of having wine shipped to our door.

Publicly, the argument against the bill is hinged on control. People fear that underage kids will order liquor over the Internet and have it delivered to them. Opponents say that the bill does not provide the State of Maryland with enough power to discipline retailers who ship to minors. This, of course, is just just fear mongering and FUD. I don’t have stats on it but I haven’t heard any significant spike of cases in Virginia where minors were getting drunk off of wine purchased over the Internet. Further, both FedEx and UPS require adult signatures when delivering shipments of wine, so at some point some adult will have to take delivery, then pass the wine to the minors.

Privately, the liquor distributors contribute a lot of money toward having these sorts of bills stamped out. They control the pricing of liquor in this state, and they intend to keep it that way. There is no logical argument against this and the only response is to find out how your local legislator feels about it and vote accordingly.

Info page on the bill
Unofficial copy of the bill
Vinotrip coverage of last year’s HB-1260 and the Wine Shipping fiasco: the intro, the fight, the defeat, and the post-mortem from the opposition.