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Vinismo makes every attempt to be fair in its wine descriptions.
Being "fair" does not necessarily mean being "nice". We have a mission to make (among other things) a reliable and complete wine guide, and a wine guide that doesn't give qualitative information about the things it describes isn't reliable or complete.
We need to call a spade a spade; if a wine is overpriced and/or really bad, we need to say so. If a winery's production has really declined in quality over the years, we need to say so.
If another Vinismo user disagrees, the description should be edited until both sides agree that the description is fair. If they really can't agree, they should make a special section about the debated issue, giving both sides of the story so that the reader can read both.
However, being "fair" doesn't mean using bland, vapid, or timid prose. Wine lovers should feel free – nay, obligated – to use concrete, lively descriptions that paint a clear, concise picture of the subject in question. "Greek wine with a nice aroma" doesn't tell anyone anything. Give some heart-felt details. Make it exciting. You don't have to tone down your writing in Vinismo just to remain fair.
The idea of "being fair" is this: We don't have any agenda on Vinismo. We are not advocating any religion, political philosophy, environmental practice, international language, wine tasting method, or any other idea, business, or cause. We aren't trying to put any winery out of business or punish any specific wine because they wouldn't honor our sensible taste buds like we wanted. We are trying to put personal feelings about wines behind us, while sharing our knowledge and impressions with other wine enthusiasts.
Our agenda on Vinismo is to achieve our goal: to make a really, really, really good wine guide that's useful and readable for wine lovers worldwide. We put the need of the wine lover first. We want to share our knowledge, and have it used. With this goal in mind, it's clear that leaving non-relevant ideologies behind is in our best interest. We want to make a wine guide, not a tract that scares readers away before they get through the first sentence.
edit Neutral point of view
Contributors who are used to Wikipedia should remember that our rule to be fair is different from the Wikipedia Neutral Point Of View policy. In particular, we encourage lively, descriptive writing, and if there is a conflict between, say, the perspective of wine lovers and the perspective of a business owner, the wine lover comes first.
edit Political disputes
Wine is not supposed to be a political issue, but unfortunately everything in this world can turn political. And when politics get involved, it's difficult to stay "fair" to both sides at once. The best way out is to stick to the bare minimum of facts necessary, presented as neutrally as possible. For example, a new AVA appellation approved by the US government could be criticized for not being strict enough about the boundaries of its territory, or not deserving the AVA status at all, or being unfair to other wine-growing regions which didn't get approval, etc. (this is just an example, of course). However, as Vinismo is not an encyclopedia, we do not need to devote lots of pages to that kind of issue. Whoever actually gets an AVA status (going on with our example... just an example), we simply acknowlege the fact that they do have that status now, regardless of whether we might think they should.
