For those who think wine drinking is only for suburban housewives and French people, seniors Brian Yinger and Scott Kelley beg to differ.
Yinger and Kelley are the founders of ‘The Grape Calls,’ an Internet video blog about cheap but tasteful wines for college kids. Yinger and Kelley got the idea about three months ago, and the two have been cranking out wine tasting videos ever since.
The duo shoots an episode about once every week, during which they provide viewers with a plethora of wine-drinking tips. Each episode, Yinger and Kelley rate a specific type of wine based on quality, smell, taste and color.
‘A lot of my teachers have always said to niche yourself as much as you can, so to focus on cheaper wines college kids can afford made sense,’ Yinger said. ‘There is a lot of value in wine, where you can get a bottle for $14 or $15, but really it drinks like it’s $40 or $50.’
The quality of the wine is based on the Robert Parker 100-point scale, which rates the overall impression of the wine. Points are given to distinguish premium wines from lower-grade, cheaper wines. All wines are given 50 free points, and the scale continues to 90 where it separates solid, full-flavor wines from expensive foreign wines.
Kelley said the scale is useful to help give viewers an idea of how good the wine is, but ‘The Grape Calls’ tries to give feedback from the perspective of college kids, not wine connoisseurs.
‘For the way we judge, since we’re smaller and talk to college students, 90 is something we really recommend,’ Kelley said. ‘Recently we had a segment on supermarket wines and we had a box of Franzia on the show. We gave it [Franzia] an 82 on the scale for its price and flavor. It is a good wine for a party; you get a lot for $14.99.’
The blog tries to incorporate as much viewer feedback as possible. The show now has a Grape Calls Hot Line where bloggers can call 331-68-GRAPE to comment on the show and connect with Yinger and Kelley.
Ben Day is a producer and cameraman for ‘The Grape Calls’ and said he is looking forward to the new topics the duo has in mind.
‘I am personally excited about a beer column being added to the show,’ Day said. ‘I am not much of a wine drinker, but covering different kinds of beers would be a great way to reach out to more viewers and expand our audience.’
The Grape Calls’ reputation is spreading quickly. The blog has nearly 350 followers from all over the world, ranging from Alaska to Ireland.
But not all viewers are as supportive of ‘The Grape Calls.’ Yinger said you still get the occasional few who leave negative comments.
‘Sometimes, you get a couple bloggers who think we’re trying to be professional wine connoisseurs,’ he said. ‘A lot of regular wine drinkers probably disagree with a lot of the ratings we give.’
Yinger and Kelley tape shows weekly and always welcome viewer feedback. To learn a few useful things about wine, check out www.thegrapecalls.com.’