Guests shopping in my store often ask, “Dave, what do the numbers below the wine tags mean?” They are referring to tasting notes with a score assigned, written by influential critics, whose words have been known to build or destroy a winery’s reputation.  In this industry, a critic’s review is a very big deal. 

For consumers, understanding how these reviews work goes far beyond looking for a high point score at an attractive price.  To help you better understand how wine scores and tasting notes work, in an effort to help you pick out a delicious bottle of wine, I offer the following information and tips:

First, most critics use a 100-point scale, with 100 being a “perfect wine.”  The base score for most is 55 points.  Every day wines that are well made generally score in the 80 to 85 range. 

Second, not every wine produced is reviewed by a critic for a variety of reasons.  Just because a wine didn’t get reviewed, doesn’t mean it’s a bad wine. 

Third, wines are tasted, reviewed, and scored against their peers.  For example, a 90 rated Spanish wine may not taste better than an 85 rated French wine.  I see consumers fall into this trap all too often, simply comparing point scores and nothing else.  To get a scope of the whole picture, one must consider the wine’s origin and price when comparing one review to another. 

Fourth, when a critic tastes a wine, points are assigned on a variety of factors, including the wine’s color, aroma, taste, over-all appeal and age-worthiness.  A wine deemed not to be age-worthy will score lower, but this does not mean the wine tastes bad.  It just tells us that you may not want to save this bottle for your newborn child’s twenty-first birthday celebration. 

I recently experienced this phenomenon first hand when I attended ABC’s Grande Bordeaux Tasting, which featured wines from a very difficult 2011 vintage.  Mother Nature really challenged these winemakers.  On the whole, many succeeded in producing outstanding wines that will be enjoyable young, but not likely to age well.  Is this a fault? Yes.  Did many wines get scored lower because of this? Yes.  Were they absolutely delicious when I tasted them?  Yes! My conclusion on the 2011 vintage in Bordeaux? Stock up on your favorite producers and enjoy them now!

This brings me to my last tip: read the tasting note and try as many wines as you can to form your own conclusions.  A wine critic’s goal is to give you an idea as to what the wine will taste like and offer insight on the wine’s quality, which almost always includes a suggestion on when the wine will be prime for drinking.  If you ignore the tasting note and pay attention to just the score, you miss out on a lot of valuable information. 

In the end, your enjoyment of the wine is all that matters.  If a wine that scores well doesn’t quite meet your expectations, don’t get discouraged.  It just means your opinion of the wine didn’t match that of the critic.  It happens to me often. 

Next time you visit ABC, be sure to check out the tasting notes and ask your store’s wine consultant for their opinion.  Most likely we’ve tasted it too!

Until next time, happy tasting everyone and thank you for reading!

Dave Malone, Wine Consultant in Tallahassee (1930 Thomasville Rd.). Follow me on Twitter @abcwinedavem.