A short note on QPR

What is QPR?
A wines Quality to Price Ratio (QPR) is an assessment of a wines value based on the ratio of how good the wine is to how much it costs. Wines with high QPR exhibit good value and are generally recommended (the quality of the wine warrants its price). In contrast, a low QPR wine isn’t unnecessarily a bad wine, just one that isn’t worth the money.

QPR based wine ratings are used either in place of, or along side, traditional numerical ratings. These tend to give consumers a better idea of whether a wine is worth the price. For instance, I would purchase what I feel is an 89 point wine if it was $15. This is a good quality for the price. Take that same wine, and put it at $25, and to me (and many people), it’s no longer worth it. With thousands of other wines avaialable, I’m better off seeking out another bottle of wine before spending this much on what I would consider 89 points. Read more

Drink wine and you get shrinkage - of your hippocampus! (Overview of a recent study and rant on the media and science)

I was holding off on commenting on this study until I reveal a project I’m working on, but so many wine blogs out there have talked about it, I feel like adding my $0.02.

As you may be aware, I am a medical researcher who spends countless hours each week studying the hippocampus. Each day I take little glass electrodes and place them on brain cells in the rodent hippocampus observing changes in cellular calcium and electrical current in response to glutamate (excitatory neurotransmitter) stimulation that I control with a laser. My research has implications in memory and epilepsy. As a neuroscientist studying the hippocampus and a wine enthusiast, the recent topic of the effects of wine on the hippocampal volume hits pretty close to home.

Here is my overview of the study (I’m trying to not be too technical here - please leave a comment with questions): Read more

Wine Shop Shelf-talkers: Do they influence your purchase?

A “shelf-talker” is a written or pictoral descriptor designed to describe a wine which is placed on the wine rack near the wine it describes. The content on shelf-talkers range from a few words describing flavors in the wine or specific numerical ratings, all the way to details about the producer and in depth tasting notes made by a wine critic, the shop owner or staff. I’ve even seen images of a brain inside of a prohibited circle (such as the no smoking sign) - these wine purchases are a “no-brainer!” However they hang, shelf-talkers are meant to be helpful to us consumers by giving us information about wines we are going to spend $10-$100 on so we know what we’re getting ourselves into. Nothing spells letdown more than buying a $40 bottle of wine and finding it unpalatable!
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Wine Pairing Advice For The “Men’s Health Top 10 Worst Foods in America”

Disclaimer: Following the food and wine pairing advice below involves ingesting large amounts of calories, fats, carbohydrates and sodium and is not recommended for those suffering from heart disease, hypertension, or renal or hepatic disease! Side effects may include nausea, upset stomach, dizziness, weight gain, loss of sex drive, and obesity!

American’s are overweight. As a nation, our obesity rate is very high, especially compared to other industrialized nations. Not surprising, the rate of Type-II diabetes, heart disease, and a handful of other serious ailments, is through the roof. Our poor health can be attributed to the combination of an overall lack of physical activity and poor diets - many of us eat 2 or more meals at fast food or other PNLP (Poor Nutrition Large Portions) establishments. It’s far more convenient to pick up carry out food, run through a fast food window, or head to the local neighborhood diner than to prepare a healthy meal at home. Unfortunately, these meals out (which often involve large portion sizes filled with 2-3 times the daily requirement for calories, fats, carbs and sodium) may be one of the biggest problems when it comes to our obesity rates as a country.
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Is Ignorance Bliss? The evolving palate.

Although wine ratings are subjective and only useful when you have an understanding of the background and palate of the person that is scoring the wine, I support their use and post ratings on this website (see My Ratings page for my system). Lately I’ve been thinking about my ratings and thinking of ways to improve my reporting of the quality and value of the wines I taste (see my new “Value” rating system). I’ve also noticed that in all of the reviews I have written, I have yet to give a wine a rating of 100 points (perfect score). While I have had 100 point wines (per other critics ratings) I do not feel that I have had a “perfect” wine. This leaves me asking myself, am I stubborn? Is there even a difference between 99 and 100 points? Maybe not from a bystander’s perspective, but from my perspective there is. Read more