“What is the best feeling in the world that doesn’t come from sex or drugs?” Somebody asked me that at a party recently, as an icebreaker. I didn’t have a good answer at the time, but now I just might: It’s tearing the packaging off a brand new notebook or journal.
You get a new notebook when you start a new hobby, a new class, or a new career. Its full of potential and promise. It’s not only a symbol of a fresh start, a blank journal is a fresh start. There’s nothing to analyze, regret, or remember. If the notebook is well-made–if it’s a little expensive–it’s a pleasure to touch and carry with you. A good notebook represents a promise to yourself: This time, I will do well with my endeavor. This time I will write it down.
The Wine Journal from Clever Fox is just such an inspiring object. Bound in Burgundy-colored vegan leather and packed with extras, it’s a welcome addition to my wine study. It comes in 9 different colors, but I chose the Burgundy one…because wine.
This is an A5 size journal, measuring 5.8 by 8.3 inches. It’s the perfect size for tucking into a satchel or tote bag, and it doesn’t take up too much room at the tasting table. There’s a pen holder, but no pen included. (It’s okay, I can steal a pen from a bar…just kidding.)
There are 132 pages of smear-resistant paper. Each has a note-taking grid for recording a wine’s vital stats and characteristics. Instead of listing them (boring), you get to fill in a wheel-shaped matrix with wedges for acidity, sugar, alcohol, body, etc. A cool gimmick for visual learners! In case you care to organize your tasting notes by color or price or some other category, the pages can be divided with the three ribbon bookmarks.
What other goodies come with the Clever Fox wine journal? The journal comes bundled with a folded insert with tips and tricks for getting the most enjoyment from your wine. Inside you’ll find an aroma wheel, a glossary of terms for describing structure, and even suggestions about glassware and food pairings.
And the stickers! Did I mention the stickers. Three pages of full-color and foil stickers are tantalizing tucked into a pouch inside the back cover. Some stickers have wine descriptors and food pairings on them. Some are just for fun (like the cats drinking wine). There are eight copper-hued foil “Favorite” stickers to mark the wines you want to return to again and again.
I swear, the cache of stickers included with this journal made me light up inside, just like when I was a little girl in the Sanrio store at the mall. I love looking at them and daydreaming about what I’m going to stick them on. Except this time I’m not dividing all the coolest stickers between my two best friends–I’m keeping those suckers for myself.
Although the sticker allowance here is plenty adequate, I didn’t feel it was quite enough stickers to sate my inner 8-year-old. So I supplemented my journal with this giant pack of fruit and vegetable stickers from Temu. Now my wine journal looks fruity-licious and I can easily tell the strawberry-ish Pinots from the cherry-ish ones.
One last useful feature of this wine journal: In the back pages, behind the tasting notes but in front of the stickers, is a “Recommendations” section. This is where you can jot down the wines you want to try someday.
As it turns out, there is more wine in the world than there is time to drink or fortitude of the liver. So my “Recommendations” pages are getting filled in rather quickly. I carry my wine journal with me, so I will never again find myself stammering in the Italy aisle as I struggle to remember the name of that one producer in Umbria that some somm told me to check out last week.
Speaking of sommeliers, I should point out that the tasting guides that come with this journal don’t perfectly align with WSET or Court of Master Sommeliers. Parts of the aroma wheel are different and so are some of the structural terms (for alcohol, body, etc.). For that reason, I wouldn’t use it for exam prep.
However, if you’re not in formal wine study program, don’t worry about it. The tasting guides are basically correct and totally adequate for learning to discuss the key characteristics of the wine you’re drinking.
At $25, the Clever Fox Wine Journal is a more expensive wine-tasting accessory than a plain-Jane notebook. But the quality is on point, and the pre-filled pages make recording your wines a breeze and not a chore.
Right now, I’m using this journal to record detailed tastings of 1-2 wines a week. (I tend to use it for wines I’ve purchased by the bottle and that I’d be happy to revisit. Lesser pours and wines-by-the-glass are recorded in an app.) With 120 pages, it ought to last about a year.
I’m loving my wine journal, and the stickers that came with it, and the pen that didn’t. It’s just the thing I need to nudge me to take better tasting notes. This time.
Wine Journal – Burgundy ($24.99)
Publisher: Clever Fox
Publication Date: March 6, 2023
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. (In this case I did receive the wine journal as a holiday gift from family–thanks, Mom!–but it didn’t influence my review.) Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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