About Wine Ratings

 
Shared from the recent newsletter from Conrad Heede, President of the Rotarian Wine Appreciation Fellowship.  Look for their booth in the Hall of Friendshp at the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta.  June 11-14, 2017: Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Register early so there will be less chance of a conflict between our dinners and the opening and closing ceremonies. We are planning to have another good convention experience for RWAF members.
 
One of the special things that happen now are all the “Best of the Year” lists that one sees published. This is also true in the wine business where the “experts” have been rating all the wines released during this year and now take a second look at them to come up with their “best”. As we have said before, a rating is simply some wine “expert’s” idea of how a particular wine scores relative to that person’s opinion of the characteristics of the ideal wine that would receive a perfect score in that wine category, using whatever scale they want to use.
 
Robert Parker, who publishes the “The Wine Advocate” and who is considered to be one of the most respected wine experts in the world, uses a 100-point scale that is widely used in the wine world and is sometimes called the “Parker Scale”.
 
The “Wine Spectator” uses this 100-point scale in its ratings. They discuss their scale stating: “Ratings reflect how highly our editors regard each wine relative to other wines in its category and are based on potential quality-how good the wine will be when at its peak. The score summarizes a wine’s overall quality; the tasting note describes the wine’s style and character.” The wine scores reflect the following:
 
                        95-100 points            Classic: a great wine
  1. Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style
  2. Very Good: a wine with special qualities
  3. Good: a solid, well-made wine
  4. Average: a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws
  5. Below average: drinkable but not recommended
  6. Poor, undrinkable: not recommended
 
 The main objective of looking at wine scores is to help us determine value. You want to find wines that are worth the price you pay for them, in your opinion. You would like to be able to find a wine to complement the food you are enjoying, at a reasonable price. You can find “deals” or at least value, if you know your wines.