“More and more the wine world is getting increasingly interested in
geography, and realizing that that is the quintessence of wine, really -
wine is geography in a bottle”

If you dont understand what Jancis Robinson is talking about in the above
quote then look no further than af83’s project Mapovino for explanation! I must admit that having grown up with a father who was very into wine and has always tried to ‘train my palette’ with good wines and
to explain the different grape varieties to me, i considered that i knew a
little bit about wine…that is, until i came to France and suddenly the
majority of wine was not varietally classified but rather classified by
region. ‘You can’t go wrong with a Bordeaux red’ so i was told but all the
other regions mystified me - buying a bottle of Merlot suddenly became
more complicated than i was used to…
Thats where Mapovino comes in! The great thing about Mapovino for someone
like me is that it geolocalises information using googlemaps thus finding
for the world of wine a happy medium between regional and varietal
classifications…and thats just the beginning!

First things first though, how did the Mapovino project come about?
Well, it evolved from an idea of Gregoire Jaipot to create a mashup using
googlemaps, photo/video media and social networking. The concept of
Mapovino developed further through discussions with Greg Beuthin who
liked the idea of starting a local Mapovino with his wife in the Bay area.
Then eventually, having discussed with Louis Montagne the collaboration of
af83’s networks and expertise with the knowledge and ideas of the ‘two
Gregs’, the project was born.

Initially the Mapovino project will be launched in some regions of France
and also in the Bay Area in California. However, it aims to become
worldwide so will perhaps one day have Australian wine producers
discussing which wine is best served with vegemite! It will provide a
broad spectrum of information including precise cartography and geographic
info about appellations (region, type of wine and grape variety), contact
info for producers as well as stories and links to blog posts and a list
of restaurants, markets and specialised boutiques where the wine can be
purchased. A wine-geek can search for specific and detailed information
about one particular vineyard whereas someone less knowledgable can browse
through for more generalized information and see all the regions that use
the Chardonnay grape.

You can think of Mapovino from two different perspectives: like an
ENCYCLOPEDIA with content from wikipedia, exclusive cartography (no where else on the internet can you find worldwide cartography about vineyards), interviews and media (photos and videos from producers, mapovino correspondants and users) and related content like blog posts, recipes and media from external sources; or like a SOCIAL NETWORK where producers, users, wine/food related professionals can network with each other, ask for advice and receive feedback.

Here are some examples of why people might use Mapovino:
- someone has a bottle of wine to taste and they desire some exhaustive
information about this wine
- someone wants to organise a party/dinner/event around a geographic theme
and want interesting information about local specialties
- someone wants to find a place nearby where they can buy wine or organic
produce
- someone wants to find some buddies who share their interest in wine/food
or to organise tastings/events/discussions
- someone wants an answer to a query from the public or from producers and
specialists in the area

If all goes well, Mapovino will launch in March this year and
revolutionize the way we look at wine. There was a beta-tAsting of the
project in early December at Boulevard Sebastopol which involved a
demonstration about Mapovino (story-board, design, ideas, new features
etc) as well as some discussion and feedback while sampling some fine
wines - sounds like a good start to me! Stay tuned…

(I stole the quote at the beginning of this post from the blog
smokinggoat which you should look at if this post whets your
appetite/palette for some further reading about Mapovino)