I recently assisted with hosting a winetasting event at which participants tasted some of the top wines in the world that were available here in Jamaica. Prior to hosting the event we had to educate the team about how wines are ‘scored’ globally. This is my focus today.

What are wine scores?

Various wine publications and wine critics from all over the world have attempted to assist their readers by assigning scores to wines that they taste. Some use a 10-point scale, some use a 20-point scale, others use stars, and there is the almost ubiquitous 100-point scale used by the world’s leading wine critics. Depending on who assigns a score to a wine, this score can cause a tremendous effect on the sales and ultimately the price of that wine. While the list of writers, magazines and critics can get very long, we will look at the top three worldwide which include Robert Parker and his Wine Advocate journal, Wine Spectator magazine and Decanter magazine.

Wine Advocate and Robert Parker

Robert Parker is the most influential wine critic in the world. His bi-monthly newsletter, Wine Advocate, was first published in 1978 and now has a profound effect both on prices and market demand for fine wines around the world. Wine Advocate and its related website use Parker’s version of the 100-point scale which, like the Wine Spectator, has 50 as the lowest possible score.

Score Explanation

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 calibre 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 flavour 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 flavour, or possibly dirty aromas or flavours.

50-59-A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

Parker’s tastings are done in peer-group, single-blind conditions, which means that the same types of wine are tasted at the same time, although the producer of each wine is not disclosed at the time of the tasting.

Wine Spectator

Wine Spectator says that ‘Wines are always tasted blind. Bottles are bagged and coded. Tasters are told only the general type of wine (varietal or region) and vintage. Price is not taken into account.’ The magazine says its ratings are based on ‘potential quality, on how good the wines will be when they are at their peaks’. Wine Spectator tasters review wines on the following 100-point scale:

Score ExplanationDecanter Magazine’s 5-star system.

95 -100-Classic: a great wine

90-94-Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style

85-89-Very good: a wine with special qualities

80-84-Good: a solid, well-made wine

75-79-Mediocre: a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws

50-74-Not recommended

Decanter magazine is a UK-based publication which has a dedicated readership worldwide. This publication employs a one to 5-star rating system popularised by another leading UK wine writer/wine critic Michael Broadbent in his Great Vintage Wine Book.

Score Explanation

5 Stars-Outstanding quality, virtually perfect example

4 Stars-Highly recommended

3 Stars-Recommended

2 Stars-Quite good

1 Star-Acceptable

Should scores matter?

In major wine-consuming parts of the world the business of wine sales has been made somewhat ‘easy’ by simply promoting how many points the wine received, and if the points are high, it flies off the shelf. The question arises, however, of ‘will you actually like the wine when you get home?’ These scores are subjective and are based on tasters with well-developed palates. Most of our wine drinkers here in Jamaica are what I call ‘newbies’ who will never like a Parker 95-point wine; not yet anyway.

Winescape 2011

During First Global’s Winescape 2011, we hosted an invitation only “Best of the Best” wine tasting where we selected only wines that scored 90 Points/4-Stars or higher. Here are a few pictorial highlights.

For immediate drinking pleasure, ignore the scores and buy what you like.

Chris Reckord — Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. He and his wife Kerri-Anne are partowners of Jamaica’s only Wine Bar – Bin 26 Wine Bar in Devon House, Kingston. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. Follow us on twitter.com/DeVineWines.