Hi all and thanks for the comments. To answer some of the more prevalent questions and concerns: the reason I was not drinking is that I am a recovering alcoholic with 15 years sobriety. My contribution to the wine community is helping people understand why they like what they like, not trying to convince anyone you will or won’t like what I like. This being said I am on Council at the Institute of Masters of Wine (kinda like the board of directors) and formally mentor many people around the world trying to pass the exam. If you already have a way to go about ‘matching’ wine and food, you do not need Vignon – that being said it’s PRIMARY function is to make you food taste great. And it does. For the skeptics you should be but the science and more importantly the effectiveness is real. Gary did not flush anything out on the BS call – try a big red wine and then a little bit of salt and lemon or lime (like a tequila shot) and try your wine. Bitter suppression from the salt and sensory adaptation to the acidity in the lemon juice will render the wine smooth and delicious. The more bitter sensitive you are the more profound the effect. Easy to do. For more info on the sensory bit you can go to http://www.northbaybiz.com/General_Articles/General_Articles/If_the_Shoe_Fits.php Thanks all and thanks for the e-mails!

I’m going to lick salt and lemon, eat asparagus, and drink some wine this weekend. And I will watch Penn State vs Michigan.

Fascinating episode; Very educational; Love the budometer website

Wow, Tim was really inspiring, you are too Gary but Tim was awesome if being a bit of a salesman.

I loved the WSJ article on Tim printed some months ago. His personality is better suited for TV and the web. I see this as a classic palate show to be linked heavily in the future.

QOTD: Myrna (goes by Mikki though)

This man deserves respect.

I thought that this was a very interesting episode. I enjoyed it and learned a few things even!

After I watched the video, I went immediately to budometer.com and took the test. I answered the questions as honestly as I could. I also have to mention that I am a wine professional (work in the business).

My results were totally totally off! The type of wines they said that I preferred, were the exact opposite of what I drink, enjoy and prefer! “Big is better” – hell no!
“prefer plenty of oak and power” – not a fan of oak at all; I prefer “naked” wines.
“I’d just rather have red wine” – no way. I drink mostly white, in fact my cellar is 50% German Riesling!!

What gives?! Did anybody else out there take the test and come up with results that were untrue??

Hummm…..I would love an answer to this just to see if I did something wrong and to learn from these results

Thanks!

Excellent EP owed to a very interesting guest – thanks. QOTD: Judy. She very rarely drinks red wine.

QOtD: watched this ep on ustream, a little boring, but quite interesting.

Cool show! The science of the taste buds is fascinating!! By the way GV, is any of your parents is also a hypersensitive taster?! It’s genetics after all that makes us what we are.. Cheers

Yo Vinosseur – the Taste Budometer is for people looking for a rough guide to the primary taste attributes they will enjoy the most. It is also an amazing information gathering and research tool. The less involved you are in the wine community the greater the accuracy. As wine professionals we get very emotionally involved and the psychological factors of numverous tastings, travel, learning, exploring, etc. rewire us neurologically. This is how humans ‘acquire’ tastes over time. You know what wines you love, like and hate and thus really do not need the Taste Budometer. Also, your preferences for salt and the way you take your coffee could have changed over time and skewed your results. A huge number of people find that it is a great way to wade throught the immense number of wines and zero in the the main factors so that they can consistently find wines they will like. As we say on the home page the more ‘into’ wine you are the less you need the Taste Budometer – you already have your system to find wines you like. Thanks for being game and playing and if you are ever out in Napa look me up!

Great show…lots of fun to see someone who is so deep into another part of the wine world. I’m really interested to see what the effect of the spice has on food…It might be worth a $6 investment just to try something new in the litchen. Will you sell it at WLTV?

QOTD: My momma is the woman that set the standards and values for my life…

Tim,

Thank you for your response. Its a very interesting concept, one I would like to learn more about.
By the way I am a California (Bay Area) native now leaving abroad, so I would love to look you up the next time I’m home for a visit! Its not often I can chat with someone of your knowledge and expertise.
I currently manage a Wine Spectator awarded wine bar! In fact I emailed Gary my wine list not too long ago!

Take care and regards to Gary

Great show Gary! You should do a wine gadget mythbuster episode sometime. I think i would be an interesting show.

Excellent show, Tim came across as open & honest about the principles behind Vignon – sounds like a good ingredient to have in the cupboard.

QOTD – Enid, and a lovely woman she is too!

Cool show, neat guest.

Enjoyed the show! Very interesting! Good guest!
QOTD – Mary Slattery of the Philadelphia Main Line Slatterys.

Keep bringing the knowledge thunder! Great episode.

QOTD: Joan Alfano- an amazingly compassionate, selfless, loving person… not to mention a stunningly beautiful woman as well.

Fascinating show and an excellent guest. Really interesting stuff. I’ll have to have my wife watch it (she’s the chef in the house).

QOTD: My mom was Mildred. I miss her a lot. 🙁

Another one of those interesting products.

QOTD – Of course !!!

this was an all time low. dont need an informercial of some guy selling salt. he bragged about his great credential but then wouldnt stoop to even taste the wine you were trying and give his opinion of it. classless. ease off the guests please.

Wow, this has got to be one of the best episodes. Very fun and giving us a lot to think about.

QOTD: My mom is Ivajean. A very unique name for a very unique woman. I don’t get to see her nearly enough. I’m calling her today.

Ahaaa… firm believer in the non-food pairing BS, now confirmed! If restaurants were ‘so worried’ that you would order the wrong food with your wine, then would force you to order the wine after you order the food. The opposite occurs as you know. And you never experienced a food-blow-up in your mouth when u had a bit of wine in your mouth and here comes the clams…

Good show and interesting product.

Cool show Gary. Tim was kinda salesman on this one but you can tell he’s a genuine, down-to-earth guy, and it definitely got me wanting to try Vignon!

I took the budometer test and came out as a “sensitive taster”… cool. I like salt and all kind spices, and when I cook I’ll really season with whatever I’ve got, not worrying much about combinations or measurements. Food and wine are really fundamentally so wonderful, and I think people overthink and close their minds to experiencing new things.

QOTD: Darlene McHenry is my mom. She’s a beautiful, strong, compassionate and selfless lady, and of course I love her.
She and her boyfriend tend to get stuck on their Blue Moon and supermarket white zinfandels and merlots, though, so my brother and I are always trying to get them to branch out! (^_-)