Tasting notes and ratings
A tasting note records that you tasted a wine. It holds the vintage, a score from 50 to 100 points or no score, your own words, a photo, where you tasted it, who you tasted it with and the date. Expert accounts can also recommend a drinking window. Notes are private until you publish them. A published note appears on the wine profile and in your profile, and a published score counts in the wine's user score, or in the expert score when you have an expert account. You can keep several notes on the same vintage, and when you drink a bottle from your cellar Vinify adds a private tasted note for you. A quick taste records a tasting without a score. You can edit and delete your notes, publish a private note later, like other people's notes and translate them. Notes work on the web, iOS and Android. Anyone can read published notes; writing a note needs an account.
On this page
How to use it
Write a tasting note on the web
- Open the wine profile and click Rate, Write a review or Rate another vintage. The same form opens from a wine in the search bar. Signed out, you go to the sign in page first.
- Choose a vintage you have tasted. NV is for wines without a vintage.
- Rate this wine. Type the points or drag the slider. The slider's left end, shown as "--", means no score. A word under the slider describes the score, for example "Excellent".
- Write a tasting note about this wine. For example color, smell, sweetness, acidity, tannin, body and finish.
- Expert accounts can switch on Recommend a drinking window and pick From and Up to.
- Location. Search for the bar or restaurant where you tasted the wine.
- Share your experience with a photo. Drag a photo in or pick one.
- Date. Today by default.
- Click Publish, or Save privately to keep the note to yourself. When you edit an existing note the buttons are Cancel and Save.
Mark as tasted on the wine profile saves a quick taste for today, without a score.
Your notes on the web
My Vinify lists all your notes, newest tasting first, with your most tasted styles, countries, regions and producers on top. Search your notes by wine name or by what you wrote. The menu on each note offers Publish (private notes), Edit and Delete. Other people's profiles show their published notes the same way.
Read notes
The wine profile shows up to three notes for the vintage on screen: expert notes first, then the longest. See all reviews opens every note for the wine across all vintages, with the filters Expert reviews, User reviews and Your reviews and sorting by rating or date. Each note shows the author, the score, where it was tasted, the text, the drinking window when an expert gave one, and when it was written. Translate turns a note into English when the site is not in Norwegian. Notes from the Liv-ex critics Jane Anson and The Wine Independent show a lock instead of the score unless your account has market value: the Market value add-on on a business plan, or Vinify Plus for private users.
On mobile
iOS. Tap Rate in the bar at the bottom of a wine profile. "Leave a tasting note" lists Vintage, Rate wine (a slider, "-- pts." means no score), Tasting note, Drinking window (expert accounts), Tag people, Location (nearby bars and restaurants as quick picks, or search), Photo (camera, your five latest photos, or the gallery) and Date. Tap Publish or Save privately. After you publish, "Cheers, tasting note submitted" shows your ranking among Vinify users and in the wine's region. Taste opens Quick taste: vintage, a note, date and photo, then Mark as tasted; Add details moves your quick taste into the full form. The question mark explains the score scale. On the profile, See all lists every note with the filters Expert tastings, User tastings and Your tastings, sorting Latest, Earliest or Highest rated, and a compact layout. The ... on your own note offers Publish, Edit and Delete. Tap the heart, or double tap the photo, to like a note.
Android. Rate on the wine profile opens "Leave a tasting note" with Vintage, Rate, Tasting note, Drinking window, Users, Location, Photo and Date, then Save privately or Publish. Taste opens Quick taste with Mark as tasted and Add details. Home lets you search for a wine and write a note for it. On the profile, See all lists every note with the filters Expert tastings, User tastings and Your tastings, sorting Latest, Earliest or Highest rated, and a Feed or List view. The options on your own note offer Publish, Edit and Delete. You can like a note, bookmark the wine and follow the author from the note.
Common questions
Who can see my tasting note?
A published note is visible to everyone, signed in or not, on the wine profile and on your profile. A private note is visible only to you.
Can I make a published note private again?
Notes are private until you publish them, and a published note stays public. To take one off, delete it and save a new note privately.
Does my note change the wine's score?
Only a published note with a score does. Expert accounts count in the expert score, everyone else in the user score. Private notes and quick tastes do not count.
What do the points mean?
Vinify uses a version of Robert Parker's 100 point scale, and the lowest score is 50. The bands: 96 to 100 Extraordinary, 93 to 95 Outstanding, 90 to 92 Excellent, 87 to 89 Very good, 84 to 86 Good, 80 to 83 Average, 70 to 79 Acceptable, 60 to 69 Bad, 50 to 59 Unacceptable.
Can I note a wine without giving a score?
Yes. Leave the slider at its left end, or use Mark as tasted or Quick taste.
Who gets notified when I publish?
People you tag get a notification. Your followers who switched on tasting note notifications get one when you publish a note with a score. When someone likes your note, you get a notification.
Who sees my photo and location?
Everyone who can see the note.
Can I write more than one note for the same wine?
Yes. In the apps every Rate or Quick taste adds a new note. On the web the review form edits the note you have for the vintage on screen, so use the apps to add another note for the same vintage. When you drink a bottle from your cellar, Vinify adds a private tasted note for you automatically.
Why can't I read a critic's note?
Notes and scores from the Liv-ex critics open with market value: the Market value add-on on a business plan, or Vinify Plus for private users, on the web and in the apps.
How do I delete a note?
Open the menu on your note and choose Delete. Deleting a note also removes its score from the wine's rating.