Sunday, June 15, 2008

WBW #46: Rhone Whites Round-Up

Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 has now posted the Round-Up of Wine Blogging Wednesday #46, Rhone Whites. You had to choose a wine using any of the Rhone white varietals, including Bourbolenc, Clairette Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains, Picardin, Picpoul, Roussanne, Ugni Blanc, and Viognier. These grapes are often blended together and blends were fine for the theme. And we could choose wines made with Rhone grapes from anywhere in the world.

Over forty wine bloggers participated and they tasted many different grape varieties as well as wines from several different coutnries. Dr. Debs took a more unique and interesting way to sum up the results of the tasting.

First, she provided a Google map that lists the locations of all of the participating bloggers. You can see that the bloggers came from four different continents, though the majority are from the United States. Such a map could also be designed to indicate where all the wines that were tasted came from. We could then compare how many were European as to how many were from California.

Second, she created a TagCloud Review. This is an alphabetical list of descriptors that were used to describe all of the wines in the tasting. The larger and bolder words are those which were the ones most frequently used. This gives an intriguing over view to Rhone whites and the flavors you might expect. I am sure there was a lot of work involved in designing this TagCloud and I find it a fascinating tool.

There is finally a list of all of the participants and the wines they chose, with special mention for certain participants. There is also a partial breakdown of the regions where all the wines originated.

Dr. Debs certainly raised the bar here for future Round-Ups. Her Round-Up was interesting, unique and informative. She deserves special kudos for all the effort she invested into this Round-Up. You must check out her Round-Up!

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