At last count we were tracking over 650 types of grapes, along with with several thousand synonyms. We have also indexed 35,000+ wineries, and around 2,000 regions. In total this supports the several hundred thousand wines that are in the database. Thats why it makes me laugh when i walk into a restaurant and the wine list looks like this:

Chateau A 2002 Reserve $45
Chateau B 2002 $36
Chateau C 2003 Prestige $29
Chateau D 2000 Cuvee $86

No descriptions, no information on region, varietals or taste. How is anyone supposed to make a decision? I know that Chateau is French for 'Manor House', but wineries outside France sometimes use the term, so I can't even be sure that the wine is French. Despite working in the industry, I have no idea what I'm looking at.

This really isn't that rare. Last weekend i went out to dinner at an Argentinian restaurant. I wanted to try a good malbec from Argentina. A common choice as malbec is a lesser known French varietal that really came into its own under the sunny Argentine skies, where the grapes get much riper and the resultant wine fruitier. The wine list was useless (House A, B, C again), so I asked the waiter for help.

I specifically asked for a fruity Argentine malbec. He pointed to the entire front page and said they were all malbec's. I asked which was the most fruit forward and he waved his hand across the entire page again. I was thirsty so just pointed to one which I then ordered.

Maybe one day that wine will be fruity, but not just yet. It was young, closed and green - it needed to age another year or two.

The world of wine is vast and intricate. It doesn't help matters when the people selling it don't know what they are doing.