Vinography Aroma Card Now Available in Japanese

When I published the Vinography Aroma Card two years ago I had no idea that it was going to be such a hit. I had been thinking of doing it as a little project for years after getting fed up with seeing all these aroma and flavor guides set up as round wheels in a way that made absolutely no sense to me.

I guess I wasn't alone in that frustration. Apparently no one else in the world has a round wallet either. The original card has been downloaded thousands of times since it was posted a couple of years ago.

Today I'm happy to announce that it has been translated into its seventh language, Japanese, thanks to the generous assistance of Mami Ishikawa, who is both a a fellow wine blogger, and the author of an upcoming book (in Japanese) about her life in San Francisco and her adventures with California wine.

Japanese presented a host of challenges for translation. Not only because a number of the flavors and aromas are not shared between cultures, but also because many of the actual names of fruits and other foodstuffs in Japanese utilize somewhat obscure Kanjii characters, and are better rendered using more modern Hiragana characters. This version also offered the opportunity to add some flavors that are particular to Japan, including yuzu, nori, dashi, and mitsuba.

This Japanese version joins the German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese versions that are already on offer.

If you find this card valuable, I'd like to ask for a voluntary donation. Most other such tools are about five bucks plus shipping (OK, so theirs are laminated). Give me a dollar or three or five, but if you like it and use it, I'd love a token of your appreciation. You can do so by clicking on the donate button below.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy these cards and find them useful in your wine tasting.

DOWNLOAD THE VINOGRAPHY AROMA CARD (39k PDF):

If you want to publish the card elsewhere, feel free to link directly to the PDFs here at Vinography, but please do not host the documents on your site. If everyone points to these, I can keep them updated so everyone gets the latest copy.

Did you ever dream of being a patron of the arts? What about a patron of the blogosphere? If you are so inclined, please...

The button above will take you to the PayPal site, where you will be able to make a donation of any amount using your PayPal account, your bank account, or any major credit card. Depending on your method of payment, PayPal will require various personal details, but these will NOT be provided to me. They are only used by PayPal to process your payment. Once you have processed your payment you will be returned to Vinography.Com.

Posted by: Alder on March 12, 2009 11:46 PM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Ramblings and Rants

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Comments (5)

Dylan wrote:

03.13.09 at 1:53 PM

Congratulations on the new language addition. I immediately began to wonder how you'd handle the cultural differences for certain aromas which do not exist in the Japanese language, but there it is. Great job to you and Mami.

silah oyunlar? wrote:

05.07.09 at 4:19 PM

mmmm wonderful - thanks =) it’s amazing..

Stacey Wittig wrote:

02.05.11 at 5:28 PM

Wanted to let you know that I posted your aroma card on my blog with links back to your blog. Also with suggestion that readers donate to your lovely cause. Check it out and let me know if you have suggestions, Stacey Wittig.

jthelw wrote:

09.19.11 at 11:47 AM

This is the most creative chart I've seen yet. I particularly like the entries of Jolly Rancher (haven't experienced this one yet), Pastry cream (very fetching, actually), and wet band-aid (have smelled this one, unfortunately).

I'd like to add SOAP. I recently tasted a 2009 CA syrah and the first thought that came to my mind was SOAP. Never happened before; hope it doesn't again.

ÁNGELA wrote:

10.07.11 at 8:56 AM

UNA IDEA GENIAL LA CARTA DE AROMAS.... ME ENCANTA!!! GRACIAS.