Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Wines task force/Newsletter/12-22-2007

Happy Holidays and welcome to the last Wine Project Newsletter of 2007! Once again a lot of has been going on over at the Wine Project so lets get to the rundown.

News and Notes
How are we doing? Where can we improve? What areas of wine-related coverage should we focus on in the next year? All wine project members are encouraged to share their thoughts so that the Wine Project can do even better in 2008.
 * Wine Project survey

Are there any wine related articles that you have felt needed some kind of illustration or diagram? The Wikimedia Foundation has found a donor to sponsor a new initiatives to get quality (and FREE!) diagram & illustration to help improve articles in Wikipedia. This is a great chance for us to submit requests for needed wine illustrations (like a diagram of the inside components of a grape or the process of fermentation in wine). If you have any ideas, take a look at the Project talk page discussion and the Philip_Greenspun_illustration_project/Requests page for more information.
 * Greenspun illustration project - An excellent opportunity to get some wine illustrations.

Thanks to the tremendous work by User:Murgh our template for the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 entries has been tidied and streamline. What is even more impressive though is that EVERY link, even the ones of the Sauternes and Barsac, are BLUE with a created article. Great work!
 * NEW Template:Bordeaux-1855 - and filled with BLUE LINKS!

Lead by the bold rewrite of User:FlagSteward and with some assistance by wine project members like User:Amatulic, the Zinfandel article has traveled leaps and bounds from this to to this. The article seems poised to make it WP:GAC debut sometime before the end of year once a few details can be hammered out. Any wine project member can help this along by sharing their thoughts on the Zinfandel talk page about a couple issues.
 * Zinfandel article on the way to GA - Could the project's first Feature article be far behind?
 * Are there any WP:BIAS concerns about how the article deals with Zin production in California versus other regions?
 * Are there any WP:NPOV concerns about the how covers wine regions notable for Zin production or in describing wine styles associated with those regions?
 * Are there any WP:SPAM concerns or improvements to the photo illustration of Zinfandel bottles?

Also if any Wine Project member wants to give a Pre-GAC review of how the article stacks up to the Good Article criteria, feel free to dive in. Feedback is always appreciated.

Here's a chance for the Wikipedia wine community to reach out and positively impact our brethren in the "Wine blogosphere" and their readers. Every month 50+ of the web's most influential English language wine blogs agree to blog on the same day about a common wine related theme-called Wine Blogging Wednesday. Next month's theme is the white wines of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia. A great way for the Wine Project to participate is by giving extra focus on our Friuli wine related articles to make sure that they are in terrific shape for the Bloggers and their readers to use as references. There are currently quite a few redlinks in the Friuli article, especially in regards to the region's DOCs and DOCGs. The event doesn't take place till Jan 16th, so there is still time to help out!
 * Wikipedia and Wine Blogging Wednesday - Improve our wine articles and have fun in the process!


 * Did you know?... that the Wine Project continues to have a great presence on the Main Page by highlighting our new and expanded articles? Since our last newsletter we have had 12 new DYKs including Second wine by User:Murgh & User:Tomas e and Champagne in popular culture by User:MIckStephenson. With several more new articles on the waiting list, including 3 by User:FlagSteward, we should continue well into the New Year with getting our wine related articles featured on the Main Page. Remember, if you have created a new article or expanded an existing article five fold then consider posting it to the DYK suggestion page. Once it has been featured, be sure to add it to our growing list of wine related DYKs at WikiProject Wine/right panel

Wiki-Winos
Welcome back the return of this feature that allows everyone to get to better know our fellow Wine Project members. If you would like to be a Wiki Wino (Say it proud!), take a look at our sample questionnaire and drop a line at the Wiki-Winos page.

User:Jmjanssen
1. What got you first interested in wine?
 * In college, I drank mostly hard liquor. I did not have a taste for beer (still don't really, but I have found a few that I enjoy) so that was pretty much it.  The woman I was dating at the time wanted to get into wine so I gave it a shot.  After having quite a few bad and/or mediocre wines I had a 2003 Woop Woop Shiraz and realized that this wine thing might work for me.  It's become an obsession since.

2. What brought you to Wikipedia?
 * Noticed some vandalism on the entry of my hometown and started editing vandalism.

3. What type of wine articles do you enjoy editing?
 * I am ashamed to say I haven't really found the need or had the ability to do much wine editing as of yet, but I think it's important that we keep tasting notes out of Wikipedia while realizing that "typical" flavors are ok to have in.

4. What non-wine related activities do you also enjoy on Wikipedia?
 * I mainly revert vandalism and welcome new people to encourage them to make constructive edits.

5. What is your favorite wine? Least favorite wine?
 * Current favorites are 2006 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc and 2005 Hartford Zinfandel. Lacheteau Vouvray is my stand-by though since I am on a budget.
 * I take risks on too many cheap wines to have a least favorite, but I have yet to have a Pinot Gris I truly enjoy.

6. What is the most under appreciated wine, in your opinion?
 * Among the general public, Vouvrays are not nearly appreciated enough, however I am ok with this as it keeps the price down. I think the bottom line is that people need to know that price is not necessarily an indicator of the goodness of a wine.  Among those who drink wine often, there seems to be a hatred for Gewurztraminers and Rieslings, especially the sweeter ones.  This does not make sense to me for two reasons: 1. Everyone likes sugar.  2. Sweeter wines are wonderful with spicy foods.

7. What efforts on a wine related article are you the most proud of to-date?
 * see 3

8. Know any good wine jokes/quotes?
 * nope

9. Have you ever had a "Wine snobbish" moment? If so, tell us about it.
 * Eh, my friends tell me I'm a wine snob, that's mainly because none of them are as focused on wine as I am. I think it's important to not be a wine snob - for me this means not forcing my opinions on other people and trying to please their palates, especially when I am hosting.
 * looking at the other responses, I recalled that my friends often catch me swirling everything I drink, however I think that's a carryover habit from drinking cocktails, not wine.

10. What area of the wine project would you like more editors to focus on?
 * I am going to start cleaning up articles to remove tasting notes.

11. What are some wine related reliable sources (i.e. a wine book or web site) that you like using when editing wine articles?
 * I have a copy of the Oxford Companion to Wine, which I love, however it is filled with subjectivity.

Jmjanssen (talk) 07:25, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia's Wine articles on the Web
A new feature to the newsletter documenting notable occurrence of Wikipedia's wine articles being used as resources. A little reminder that what we do here is important and reflects upon the whole encyclopedia. We want to get it right and we want to be a great resource for wine-lovers across the web!
 * Port wine - (High Importance Article, currently B-level quality) Dec 14th, 2007 Napa Valley Register
 * "According to Wikipedia, “ … under European Union guidelines (and in Canada), only the product from Portugal may be labeled as ‘Port.’ In the United States, Federal law mandates that the Portuguese-made product be labeled ‘Porto’ or ‘Vinho do Porto.’” "


 * Polyphenols in wine - (Mid importance/start level) Dec 4th, 2007 American Chronicle
 * "According to wikipedia, Polyphenols are a group of chemical substances found in plants, characterized by the presence of more than one phenol group per molecule. These chemicals can be found in high levels in the fruit skins."


 * Chardonnay - (Top importance/start level) Dec 20th, 2007 Everyday Drinker's blog
 * "Chardonnay is a versatile grape. In cold regions such as Chablis, it shows crisp acidity and flavours of green hay with the flinty notes typical of the terroir - the wine even has a green tinge. Just 100 miles south, in the Côte de Beaune, the white Burgundies are much riper and richer, reflecting warmer conditions and the increasing use of oak. (wikipedia)"


 * Retsina - (Mid importance/stub level) Dec 21st, 2007 Brooklynite on the Ice blog
 * "According to wikipedia, such wines may have originally gotten their bouquet of baseball bat and long, acrid, paint-thinner finish because the bungs in the amphorae used to store and transport them were sealed with pitch from the Aleppo pine. Despite the emergence of newer technologies like casks, corks and even glass bottles, local demand for this unique and, frankly, rather acquired taste remained so high that it is now added to the wine."


 * Beaujolais nouveau (Mid importance/start level) Nov. 13th, 2007 HaKerem Israeli Wine blog
 * "According to that all-knowing source Wikipedia: Beaujolais nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is the most popular vin de primeur, fermented for just a few weeks then officially released for sale on the third Thursday of November."

General comments

 * The Times (South Africa) wine blog, Dec. 10th, 2007
 * Despite being criticized for inaccuracies, we are apparently better than the Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia in regards to our South African wine (Top importance/B rating) articles such as Pinotage (High importance/start level).

That's all folks!
As a fellow project member, I'd like to thank each and everyone of you for all your hard work and dedication to the wine project. Big or small, little changes or substantial rewrites, every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated. It is the collective work of the entire Wikipedia wine community (and not just a few members of the Wine Project) that help to contribute in making Wikipedia a terrific wine resource on the web. 2008 looks to be more opportunities for us to improve and have more of a presence on the web. I wish everyone a great holiday season and be sure to pop the cork at New Years with something nice. :)

Agne