what does it mean when you see a WINE REVIEW that saids 90pts or 88 pts. how does that system work?
July 13th, 2010 | Published in Wine Club | 4 Comments
who are those people who rates the wine. whats their creditbility. and how does the rating system work? btw, any great wine recoomendation. something that is not too heavy tasting
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July 13th, 2010 at 5:45 pm (#)
July 13th, 2010 at 6:15 pm (#)
Well as far as credentials go that would depend on the person. Some have gone to culinary school, others are subject matter experts… others are just people that like wine that start up a web page.
As far as the points go… they are based off of a possible 100. They are normally rated on such things as color/appearance, sent, taste, mouthfeel and sometimes overall drinkability. The points awarded are subject to the reviewers opinion and should be treated just like that. Just because you may give this wine 55pt I may give it 75 or possible 25.
Sorry I can’t give any recommendations… I’m a beer drinker/reviewer. Want a good beer?
July 13th, 2010 at 6:39 pm (#)
it means wine spectator magazine or whatever authority you are reading tasted the wine, in a static blind tasting and assigned points to it based on tastes, and whatever other category they want.
i personally don’t like most wines that have great scores. the problem with scores is that they are done by wine experts with very advanced palates. they can taste all sorts of nuances that us the average consumer can’t. I usually consume wine with food, and that’s the one area that the scores don’t help. a 95 point wine could taste fantastic on its own in proper glass by itself, but be utterly nasty when paired with food.
i generally don’t follow the scores, and just taste and determine if i like it or not.
My current favorite wine is a red blend from a Napa Valley Winery named Orin Swift, called The Prisoner. It is a blend of 4 reds, primarily 40% zinfandel and 30% cab sauv. it is nice and balanced, not too heavy, not too light and darn fine with a big fat piece of steak.
July 13th, 2010 at 6:41 pm (#)
Giving points to a wine is a very simple way of indicating what you think of a wine. There are many different systems, 1 – 5 stars and points out of 20 are very common.
A wine critic named Robert Parker popularized a 100 point system. However, it is not marks out of 100 as the scale only starts at 50, and anything under 80 points is not worth considering, so basically only 80-100 are used, and many people say that you cannot sell a wine with less than 90 Parker points (i.e. because they’re barely ‘above average’ at the lower end) and you can’t buy a wine with over 90 Parker points (because they quickly sell out).
Many others have adopted the 100 point system: how much credence you put on anyones points depends how much you agree with their palate. It is all a matter of opinion.
Pay no attention to merchants who award their own points on wines they sell, and if they quote points awarded by someone else, check if those points refer to the same vintage and exact wine, as it is all to common to find the shelf talkers remaining long after the wine moves to a different vintage .
The meaning of the points, according to Parker, is
96-100:
An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase, and consume.
90 – 95:
An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 – 89:
A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 – 79:
An average wine with little distinction except that it is a soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 – 69:
A below average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor, or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 – 59:
A wine deemed to be unacceptable