Tom Casagrande

My blogs

Gender	Male
Industry	Law
Occupation	IP lawyer
Location	Arlington, Virginia, United States
Introduction	ME: I used to be in the wine business ('82 - '87) in NYC. I loved studying (and drinking) wine, but I was no good at sales, so I became a lawyer. MY RATINGS/NOTES: People can sometimes attach meanings to basic wine adjectives that are different from those used by wine geeks, like me. And they also attach unpredictably positive and negative connotations to these words too. Take "fruity." Many casual wine drinkers think fruity is bad, that fruity means sweet. Some people equate "dry" with tannic and astringent. The letter grades scores I give are like school grades. I used to give numerical grades on a 100 point scale, but I decided I'm not really good enough to distinguish between an 89 and a 90. I hope that my scores help people understand how the words I use translate into enjoyment. My scores do not vary with the cost of the wine. They reflect how much I liked it. Also, I give scores to wines only after I've had a chance to focus on it away from the kitchen or dining room, where food smells and tastes can affect my evaluation. Unfortunately, I don't taste "blind," but I try to be as objective as possible.