bossman-

As more and more of us are trying German and Spanish wines, any consideration from separating these off from Euro other?.

Another excellent idea from Dr. T.

I third this motion - given the recent infusion of priorats into my collection, I keep having to use search words to find the tasting notes. Anything that will help this lazy guy would be appreciated.

vtyro

I don't think further segmenting the tasting notes section is necessary. Some potential users are already complaining that the tasting note section is too segmented already.

alex,

great idea. i think we have discussed this before.

as far as people thinking the tn are too segmented, you have to be kidding me. how much easier can it be? this has to be the most easiest wine website in the world to navigate.

Been here; decided already. Nothing wrong with the way it is now.

Two more categories certainly wouldn't hurt. One of the things that makes this site so much better than others and easier to navigate is the number of specific categories.

Why not put this to a poll?

My reasoning was that I believe the following:

-There are more people on this site drinking Germans and Spanish than Washington and Oregon which have their own TN section. It is clear that the Left Coasters except GATC are not doing such and hence their nay votes; but this is a site founded by East Coasters who more and more are trying these wines, whether its' because of access [ or lesser access to Cal.] or taste preferences. By lumping Euro other, in a way, is like saying US other. Given improved quality and [ our] access to these, I'd like to see these separated from the Hungarian Tokaji, Greek OOzo, and what not from wherever.To have Port, other sweet, Oregon, Washington as individual, but Germany and Spain not makes no sense in today's wine world.

-In the interest of recruiting other new members who can add to the collective knowledge of this site, like Gastronauta and some of those who are more regular on ebob and the WS site. A site can grow stale if there is no new blood infused. In fact, one of our general complaints about sites is that e bob is too Europe, or WS is too California. Frankly as prices for the Bordeaux and Napa regions fly thru the stratosphere I am interested in other areas and what people who have experience there have to say. By giving credence to these areas, you draw people who think this site considers these areas as valuable for discussion, headliner if you will...as well as the converse. If you can't find it, you can bet people feel it's unimportant.

- Subdividing and organizing is never a bad thing on line. The biggest problem I have with the internet fora is the stream of consciousness without an index. If you don't like the Spanish or German wines just skip the 4 lines link. The gain for those of us who are interested is greater than the loss for those who aren't.

Well said, Dr. T.

I don't really care what people think about the fragmentation of the site. It is the easiest site of all the wine forums to navigate IMHO. I only read things that I am interested in and do not want to have to wade through hundreds of threads just to find one that I might want to reply to. The more choices I have, the more likely I am to post to that specific topic. If I feel my input is vaild, then I will feel I have contributed (in my own small way) to that thread. Otherwise, I'm like the dozens that follow in one giant main category that has grown out of control. My vote would be to make a separate section.

I think part of the difference of opinion here is a flat vs. heirarchical argument. There are people whose preference is for a small number of broad groups. Others like finer granularity in the groups, with more focused entries.

it seems that this entire site is geared more toward the latter, and hence adding 2 more sections for what are very important wine regions only makes sense. Left to my own devices, I would separate South America out also.

Finally, come on people, France gets 4 threads, and Germany doesn't deserve at least one? That just doesn't pass a common sense test.

Dr. T makes some good points and one very poor and groundless assumption (access and exposure to the wine in question) but he draws the wrong conclusion. He is exactly right re Washington and Oregon however the solution is not to break out Spain and Germany because given that Washington and Oregon are separate Spain and Germany must be too. Rather, Washington and Oregon should be combined into one "Northwest" category and the Europe other category should be left alone. What makes a quality forum is one where the quantity and velocity of posts is maximized while confusion/difficulty in accessing specific information is minimized. Endlessly chopping threads down to smaller and smaller categories harms the quantity and velocity of posts (i.e. no one looks there because nothing ever changes) while only improves minimally, if at all, the ease in retrieving the information.

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What makes a quality forum is one where the quantity and velocity of posts is maximized while confusion/difficulty in accessing specific information is minimized. Endlessly chopping threads down to smaller and smaller categories harms the quantity and velocity of posts (i.e. no one looks there because nothing ever changes) while only improves minimally, if at all, the ease in retrieving the information.

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That does make a lot of sense.

I enjoy both Spanish and German wines, and I believe that my position on this issue has already been made quite clearly.

Resistance to two logical categories, given the plethora of other choices that we currently have, strikes me as provincial ... but I can live with it either way.

That's absolute nonsense.

Perhaps a balance could be struck to edit the 'European Other' Forum section header and/or description -- Maybe say 'Put your German, Spanish and other European TNs here' might help others newer to the site find info on these items.