Hot Topic: Defining and Demystifying Wine Ratings
What’s all the fuss about listening to “wine experts” telling us how good or bad a wine is? Do they really know more than the average wine drinker, and should we let them influence us in choosing wines to buy? Can wine competitions and tastings tell us anything about specific labels and varieties? How should we really pick and choose?
Wine Rating Scales
First lets explore how the “experts” rate wine.
Wine “Experts” conduct tastings in peer group, single-blind conditions , which means the same types of wines are tasted against each other and the wineries’ names are not revealed. Therefore, neither price nor the reputation of the winery influences the rating in any way. As many of the wines rated have been tasted several times, the scores represent a cumulative average of the wine’s performance in tastings to date. Overall, the score assigned to a specific wine reflects the quality of the wine at its best.
Most scoring systems use a 50-100 point range. The scoring is based on general color and appearance, aroma and bouquet, flavor and finish, and the potential for further evolution and aging. Scores do not reveal the important facts about a wine. A written commentary that accompanies the ratings is a better source of information regarding the wine’s style and personality, its relative quality to its peers, and its value and aging potential than any score could ever indicate.
Here is a general guide to interpreting typical numerical ratings:
90-100 is equivalent to an A and is given only for an outstanding or special effort. Wines in this category are the very best produced of their type. There is a big difference between a 90 and 99, but both are top marks. There are few wines that actually make it into this top category because there are not many great wines.
80-89 is equivalent to a B and such a wine, particularly in the 85-89 range, is very, very good; many of the wines that fall into this range often are great values as well.
70-79 represents a C, or average mark, but obviously 79 is a much more desirable score than 70. Wines that receive scores between 75 and 79 are generally pleasant, straightforward wines that lack complexity, character, or depth. If inexpensive, they may be ideal for everyday enjoyment.
Below 70 is an F. For wine, it is a sign of an imbalanced, flawed, or terribly dull or diluted product that will be of little interest to almost everyone.
Wine Magazines use either of these methods:
1) Ratings are based on tastings by the magazine’s editors and other qualified tasting panelists, either individually or in a group setting. Tastings are conducted blind or in accordance with accepted industry practices. Price is not a factor in assigning scores to wines. Only wines scoring 80 points or higher are rated, but wines considered flawed or uncustomary are sometimes re-tasted to confirm the intitial impressions.
2) Each wine region is the sole jurisdiction of one Editor who has, after much time and research, developed an expertise in that region’s offerings. During a tasting, other editors are on hand and can offer opinions, but the final say is had by that main Editor. All tastings are conducted “blind.” and tasters are told only the general type of wine (varietal or region) and the vintage. If a wine tastes corky or flawed in a major way, or if it scores below 70, a new bottle of the same wine is tasted again. By the same token, wines that score very highly are re-tasted to confirm such favorable first impressions. European wines are tasted in the districts that yield them, where fresher, perfectly stored examples will be readily available. Ratings are based on how good a wine will be when it reaches its peak, regardless of how soon that will be. If barrel samples are being rated rather than finished wines, that is revealed, since a world of difference can exist between these two stages of a wine’s life.
Wine Magazines typically use a 100-Point Scale:
95-100 — Classic; a great wine.
90-94 — Outstanding; superior character and style.
80-89 — Good to very good; wine with special qualities.
70-79 — Average; drinkable wine that may have minor flaws.
60-69 — Below average; drinkable but not recommended.
50-59 — Poor; undrinkable, not recommended.
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