The Vin d`émotion scale is simple and very easy to understand, if one or two details are understood.
Firstly it is important to understand that the scale has two parts – a base scale evaluating the base qualities … up to frais et léger and with the purity, energy and tension of the very good wine … this is the basics.
– A potential vin d’émotion – frais et léger
A wine should, at a minimum, be frais and Léger … i.e., have energy and a good level of tension and liveliness. If not … forget it; it is often harvested either too early or too late, or the vinification is just disappointing … so ALWAYS frais and léger. In some years this is the result of weather and conditions … that’s life!
If a wine has these base qualities its terroir and the age of the wines, the sepage can take it further towards the one, two and three hearts.
Always remember the basic qualities should be present in the wine … a wine without tension, energy and liveliness can not be a Vin d`émotion.
In the end this exclude a quite a lot of wines from qualifying to be a vin d`émotion … and leave them at the somewhat tedious or annoying stage … or even worse.
I don regret this .. the number of tedious or even terries wines will increase as the global warming increases.
Not a new 100p scale
This is not a exact measurement that will tell you that La Tâche 2020 is better that Musigny 2022 from Mugnier … but in the end the wines with three hearts are considered better than the wines with two or one hearth.
So yes the is and element of evaluation the quality … but its not really a precise scale for comparing scores … its a scale that tells you how much joy and delicacy you will get from the bottle.
And yes La Tâche can sometimes be bigger and more impressive than the Musigny … but the sensuality of the Mugnier wine sometimes make this the preferred wine … and the wine standing empty at the table when the evening is ending.
This is not about justice to the last millimeter… fine-tune your own limits and borders… but think energy and tension … in a world with global warming, this is essential.
It should always be in the search of enjoyment, pleasure and excellence … the wine should thrill you, enchant you and seduce you beyond your senses.
As you move up, the heart’s complexity increases … and the big terroirs, with their energy and complexity, can, if combined with a fine tension they can reach the three hearts. So it’s a combination of tension and energy and then the terroir.
The steps of vin d’émotion
– A true vin d’émotion – a Burgundy of passion
– A truly hedonistic wine – lively and enjoyable
– A vivacious wine for pure indulgence
– A potential vin d’émotion – frais et léger
Quaffable – for the buzz
Tedious – avoid
Annoying – avoid
Awfull
The final version
Vin d’émotion was contemplated. In the fall of 2019, four wine geeks gathered in a small house in Vosne-Romanée. The group was made up of two vignerons: Mathieu Moron, Pierre-Olivier Garcia, an amateur vigneron and wine dealer, Tavs Ritzau, and me– the Winehog, Steen Ohman.
Add to this the inspiration of May-lin Voarick and the talks with Fréderic Mugnier … and we reach the current and final version. A lot of inspiration – thanks – and quite some work by the Winehog over the years-