International Wine Intelligence · Established 1891
Redefining the parameters of contemporary wine intelligence.
The Institution
The Shit Wine Guide is the world’s foremost institution for the integrated assessment, classification and positioning of wine, and of the wine that has not yet been decided upon.
Since 1891 we have conducted the sustained, methodical and entirely independent study of what is poured into glasses, how it is received and what everyone says about it afterwards. Our Council, our Division, our Institute and our Academy operate in fourteen territories, on five continents, under a single doctrine: that no bottle is beneath consideration.
Our specialists are renowned for reaching around the traditional boundaries of wine appreciation, ensuring that no bottle, however questionable, is left unexplored.
Years of considered opinion
Wines assessed by the Head of Assessment
Territories of international presence
Numbered International Standards
Consumer palate interviews conducted
Dregs: the current global disappointment reading
The Divisions
Each division operates independently, reports to the Council and appears on the same dashboard.
Global sentiment, regional performance and the Outlook.
The Seven Pours and the Overall Disappointment Index.
Ten courses in the advanced discipline of appreciation.
Legendary disappointments and unnecessary pretension.
Annual reports, white papers and vintage analysis.
Six tiers of association with a degree of seriousness.
Intelligence dashboard
Live readings from the International Wine Intelligence Division.
Leadership
“A wine is only as distinguished as the silence that follows it.”
“If it can be tasted, it can be benchmarked; if it cannot be tasted, it can be benchmarked more freely.”
“Every bottle is a data point that has not yet been asked the right question.”
“Strategy is simply the patient arrangement of glasses.”
“A standard that can be argued with is merely a suggestion with a letterhead.”
“The public palate is never wrong; it is merely early.”
“Reputation is a vintage; it improves with careful storage and the occasional denial.”
“I have tasted eleven thousand wines and been surprised only twice. Both were errors.”
“A vineyard owner will tell you everything, provided you have already agreed with him.”
“The nose is a legacy technology. We are merely extending its support lifecycle.”
The Hall of Shame
A permanent record of the most questionable moments in the history of wine.
“Price: monumental. Contents: pond.”
“Eighty minutes for a table red.”
“A conversation with only one participant.”
Latest from the Institution
Phase Two introduces the Wine Assessment Institute, the Global Wine Academy, the Hall of Shame and a renewed programme of International Intelligence. The Chairman has observed a pause of forty seconds in celebration.
The nine-month Programme admits a cohort of twenty-four senior practitioners, each of whom must demonstrate a prior confidence in their own opinions.
The Division reports a reading of 78.2, attributed principally to a favourable autumn and an unusually restrained quarter for pronouncements.
A multidimensional review of global positioning convergence across 41 contextual domains.
Establishes the architecture for integrated vintage intelligence and its adjacent considerations.
An outlook on strategic wine ecosystem alignment within the European venue environment.
Global presence
Regional intelligence centres, research divisions and tasting rooms on every continent with a wine list.
Membership & Accreditation
Six tiers of membership, from Individual to Fellowship, each accompanied by a lapel pin and a modest sense of occasion.