Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a wine guide
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This is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. It is not a policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it. |
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This page in a nutshell: Wikipedia is not a source for finding out what wine you should be drinking and editors shouldn't be writing articles to give recommendations |
In "Death in the Afternoon", Ernest Hemingway wrote "Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing." [1]. As a topic, wine has been written about for centuries and the individual tastes and experiences of the authors have undoubtedly colored the portrayal of this ancient beverage. On Wikipedia, as editors we have volunteered to expand the world's knowledge of this beverage and the people, places and processes that are devoted to it. As with every article, Wikipedia's core policies of Verifiability, No original research and Neutral point of view should always be at the forefront of our editing but we must be aware of the unique aspect that wine articles have.
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[edit] Wikipedia is not a wine guide
This means that no one should consider Wikipedia a source for finding out which grapes or wines are the "best" and what they should be drinking. As editors, our focus should be on writing articles that adequately inform the reader about the subject. Articles should not give our personal recommendation on which wines are superior, what region has the best terroir, or what vintages are better then others. Enjoying wine is a matter of personal taste and what one drinker likes could be a complete turn off for another. Wikipedia's wine articles should strive for the highest level of NPOV, which can be particularly challenging due to the abundance of reliable sources available on wine related subjects. In many situations an article can be very well referenced and free of original research, but may be decided as POV in its presentation.
[edit] Some common mistakes in wine articles
Below is a list of some common mistakes seen in wine articles.
- List of "good/excellent" Vintages and wine magazine ratings
Often an article about a winery or vineyard will list several vintages that were reportedly declared "excellent" by a wine critic or publication. With well known and prestigious wine makers like the Bordeaux First Growths, this list can get quite long as there are always critics or magazines that can give favorable "ratings" to a wine. The very nature of wine rating systems can lead to a wide disparity in how a wine or vintage is rated and is often very subjective. Inclusion of "good vintages" and wine ratings also introduces a particular POV into the article as it is elevating some critic's opinion over others. Furthermore, the main interest in wine ratings and vintage is normally tied into an interest in knowing what wine to buy or drink-which again, is not what Wikipedia articles are about.
It is encouraged that Wikipedia wine articles avoid listing vintages unless there is something particularly unique and notable about that vintage apart from the assessment of a few wine critics. An example would be a Port wine vintage from the Douro Valley that all the major port houses declare vintage on. For some houses, declaring a vintage is a rare occurrence and could merit inclusion. A vintage that was part of an historical event like the 1907 vintage of Heidsieck & Co Monopole that was recovered under the Gulf of Finland intact after sitting in a sunken vessel for over 80 years could be worthy of inclusion. Any "historical" designation should be one that can be easily verified with multiple non-trivial sources.
- Weasel words
Often in wine articles you will see the appearance of weasel words in describing some aspect of the subject like "Some have considered..." and "It has been long thought that...". The policies of Verifiability and No original research compels editors to attach these sentiments to an individual, group, book, or study that has published these views with an attached source citation. It is very easy for an editor to mask their own personal views (even subconsciously) into an article with the aide of weasel words. We must consciously work to not only avoid them but to fix and remove them when spotted.
- Opinionated and slanted writing
With wine being a matter of taste, it is as easy to find one critic disparaging a particular wine, grape, region or vineyard as it is to find one extolling its praises. As a general rule of thumb, editors should avoid as much as possible any overtly positive or negative presentation. But in the instance where there is an encyclopedic relevance (such as the diverging views on Chardonnay) every effort should be made to present a balanced perspective that doesn't come across as either hostile or sympathetic to its subjective-Per WP:NPOV.
- Tasting notes
In order to build a comprehensive source about wine, our Wikipedia articles should include details about the general characteristics of a wine or a grape varietal. However, there is a fine line between listing characteristics and listing tasting notes. Characteristics are more generalized and can be found consistently in several non-trivial reliable sources. There should be consideration for the changing characteristics in a grape varietal from one region to the next such as with Sauvignon blanc and the distinct differences between a New Zealand Sauvignon blanc and a Californian one.
[edit] Notability of Wineries
A good starting point for determining the notability of wineries is the notability guideline Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) which gives large consideration to a winery that has been the subject of multiple non-trivial, reliable published works. Since there is an abundance of "non-trivial and reliable published works" in the world of wine, this requirement could be "technically" fulfilled by nearly every winery. But since Wikipedia is not meant to be a wine guide listing of every winery in existence, we should strive to include only the wineries with some substantial degree of notability and contribution to the wine world. Some key points to consider....
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- There is the difference between being the subject of an article or profile in Wine Spectator and being mentioned in a wine review or wine region overview.
- There is also a difference in being cited in a wine book (Such as Oz Clarke's Encyclopedia of Grape) for some significant achievement or uniqueness of a particular wine and being mentioned in his back page list of "Ten New World lookalikes" and "Ten good-value wines". As a general rule of thumb, a non-trivial reference includes more than just a name in a listing.
Other notability factors could be participation in a significant wine event like Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 or Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. These are events who are notable enough to merit their own article and affiliation with them adds degrees of notability to the wineries. This would exclude your typical county or state fair gold medal winners and your average "top ten" or "top 100" listings.
[edit] List of wineries
Per WP:LIST the purpose of lists on Wikipedia is for Information, Navigation and Development and are obviously subjected to relevant Wikipedia policy for notable and inclusion. Of particular note is the policy of WP:NOT#DIRECTORY which speaks to the heart of the matter of Wikipedia not being a wine guide since the primary function of the commercial wine guide is to be a listing of wineries and wines. On Wikipedia, we are striving to be an encyclopedia and there is little encyclopedic benefit to having a listing of commercial wineries. In fact, such lists typically cross the line into spam advertising especially since the vast majority of wineries do not pass WP:CORP and would be nothing more then a red link on a list-diminishing the ability of such a list to provide Information, Navigation and Development.
- Question "What about the wineries that DO qualify for an article? How do you not keep those links from being orphaned?"
- Reply Generally if a winery is only notable enough to be on a list of Wineries in Foobar article then that is a big red flag on the overall notability of the winery. A very good example is the fact that we do not have articles on List of Bordeaux wineries or List of Chateaus in Bordeaux but yet we do have a fair number of non-orphaned articles on notable Bordeaux wine estates. The wineries that pass WP:CORP and are notable enough for a Wikipedia article typically are notable for some significant reasons beyond just being a winery-such as involvement in the history of a particular wine region or some development and accomplishment with a particular varietal or wine style. Those wineries would then have links in relevant articles through the noting of those accomplishments such as the chateaus linked in the Bordeaux wine, Bordeaux wine regions, History of Bordeaux wine, and Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 articles.
- Alternatives to list of wineries A non-spamlist alternative to listing wineries in a particular region is to find a suitable external link to be placed in the appropriate External link section of the article.
[edit] The "Restaurant Test"
A hurdle in objectively evaluating the notability of wineries is to step away from the romanticism that wine and making wine has. At its most basic level a winery is simply a business, providing a product and as Wikipedians we should try to keep that in context no matter how much we sincerely love that product. An effective approach is to apply the "Restaurant Test" and think of the winery in the context of a local restaurant. Restaurants are good comparison points because many times they receive just as much reliable source press coverage as small local wineries. These restaurants receive numerous reviews and write ups in local papers, dinning and travel guides and some even get Zagat ratings. But these "reliable sources" are relatively trivial mentions that are just par for the course of any service industry. If you provide a service, you are naturally going to be reviewed and written about in local papers. There is a distinct difference between these trivial write ups and more substantial mentions by reliable sources a part from just being a review of the food and service. As an outside example, College football players get immense amount of press coverage, sometimes even national, but that is just par for the course of playing college football. To achieve notability, a player has to step beyond just being a college football player either by playing in the highest professional level (the NFL) or being involved in some other newsworthy event.
Similarly, Wikipedia has historically exercised discernment with articles about restaurants because of the decidedly limited scope of notability and familarity that they have. While "everyone" in one particular city or metropolitan area may know of a restaurant, the vast majority of Wikipedia's readership will never see or hear of it. The restaurants that do warrant articles typically have something about them that distinguishes them beyond just being a restaurant.
Examples
- Legal Sea Foods - which has made advances in Food Safety and worked with the US government in developing Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points inspection systems.
- Geno's Steaks - notable for its place in the development and notoriety of Philly cheesesteaks and controversy over some of the restaurant's activities.
- Le Dome Cafe - Paris cafe which has been the subject of numerous paintings and literary mentiones. Birthplace of the term "Dômiers".
- The Fat Duck - One of the few restaurants to be named Restaurant magazine's "Best Restaurant in the World" and also one of the leading advocates of Molecular gastronomy.
It is this same level of discernment that we need to have with our articles about wineries. If an article consistent essentially of "Chateau Foo is a winery..." with only a listing of what wine they make and how long they have been making it then we have a red flag that maybe Chateau Foo is not notable. We must keep in mind that the mere act of being a winery and making wine is not by itself intrinsically notable. There are tens of thousands of wineries throughout the world and many more in the history books. We must also remember that Wikipedia caters to a worldwide audience and many of our local favorite wineries will never have their wines extend beyond their region or state. As an encyclopedia, we are striving to catalog the world of wine and the people, places and events that have made a significant contribution to that world. Stepping beyond the scope of our own personal familarity and biases is difficult but is needed in order to try and objectively evaluate the notability of wineries.
[edit] Reference
- ^ E. Hemingway Death in the Afternoon Scribner Publication Reprint 1996 ISBN 0684801450
[edit] External links
- Vinismo is an Open Content wine guide, and many articles that don't belong on Wikipedia wine pages would be welcome there.
