Love at First Bite…

There are too many revolutions going on at once in my head. There’s the food revolution, but we’re now on something like version nine of that one. The wine revolution has kicked in, but I keep meeting people every other day who say that they’re “just joining the wine revolution” and I joined it in the 90’s.  The Internet revolution is also pretty powerful and it keeps changing and so does everyone who is in on it, no?

So, when I find a hip website that purports to give little tidbits about wine, food, tasting, the wine world, etc. all in bite sized portions, I sit up and take notice. And notice I took of Gretchen Roberts’ Vinobite.

This little corner of the revolution won’t make you an overnight sommelier, but what it will do is give you the opportunity to learn about, think about, talk about, give feedback (called “bite back”) and focus on wine and the wine world.

I interviewed Roberts via e-mail and we talked about the idea of a site which seeks to take the story of wine and condense it a little.

“It’s true that wine can be an endless study, which is exactly what so many other wine lovers find so fascinating about it,” said Roberts. “That said, you don’t need to know everything about wine to enjoy drinking it. I only know the bare bones of music theory, but I love music and wouldn’t consider not listening because I couldn’t dissect it properly.”

She has a point there, too. As one who “geeks out over it,” I am fully aware that not everyone gets excited by an Alsatian Pinot Gris and its many charms and how there are stories that the Alsatian farmers hire Eastern Europeans, Slavs mostly, who harvest the grapes on these very steep hillsides and some fall to their deaths each year.  Actually, my wife finds herself telling me to shut up quite a bit, but I digress.

“I deliberately made Vinobite into short notes because there’s a whole world of people out there who like wine and want to learn a little more, but don’t want to geek out over it,” Roberts added.

The site is very user friendly and full of great bits of information and even insight on wine offerings from various places. There’s a current post up about a wine themed hotel in Lodi, California’s wine country (Zinfandel Mecca for many) and Roberts keeps the posts short and sweet. “I decided scoring (wines) wasn’t right for me,” she said. “Vinobite is like talking to a friend instead: “Hey, you won’t believe the amazing wine I had last night,” and simply describe it and why it’s so delicious and worth the price.”

With a new post each weekday, Roberts, a freelance wine and food writer whose work can be found in The Wine Enthusiast and myrecipes.com among others, is pushing the boundaries of the “revolution” in new directions and allowing everyone access to a little insider information.

Good wine tells a good story, of course and sometimes, all the consumer needs is the first few paragraphs so that they can make up their own minds. Certainly, Vinobite is a step toward such liberty.