cost
Cost is mostly determined by where you are so we have decided to use a very general pricing system. Exact costs in your area can be found on individual wine pages:
$ less than US$10
$$ between US$10-20
$$$ between US$20-50
$$$$ between US$50-100
$$$$$ over US$101
rating
Members of the-wine-guide can vote on the overall quality of a wine and a wine's rating is an average of the votes. You should view this as a rule of thumb. Like a movie review, you may love one film for certain qualities but someone else watching the exact same film may loth it for the same reasons. If a three star wine has a flavor profile that appeals to you, you should give it a shot. But you may want to give one star wines with many votes a miss.
flavor
Flavor profile of a wine. These are determined by votes, users of the-wine-guide chose what flavors they think are in the wine, the top 5 voted flavors will come out on top
origin
The place where a wine is grown. The place of origin is important because like coffee, a grape varietal will pick up distinct set of flavor characteristics based on the soil or climate of the region it is grown in. In Europe this is called terroir, and it is considered so important it is the foundation of their entire naming system.
varietal(s)
A varietal is the type of grape used to make the wine. Each varietal of grape has its own climate that it likes to grow in and a distinct flavor. The type of grape used to make a wine is largely responsible for how a wine will taste. So a bottle of Cabernet from California will have similar characteristics to a Cab from South Africa.
type
The type of wine. A wine can be red, white, rose, dessert (includes ports and other fortified wines, late harvest, ice wine, and anything else sweet), sparkling (includes Champagne), sparkling rose, sparkling red
body
The 'mouth-feel' of a wine. Can range from light, medium to full-bodied. A full bodied wine would be very rich, heavy and dense in character like a dark earl grey tea or a steak dinner. A light bodied wine would be refreshing like chrysanthemum tea or a salad.
