For novice wine investors and collectors, familiarizing yourself with the ‘gurus’ of wine-rating and their methodologies will be the cornerstone to your success.
By arming yourself with this knowledge, it empowers you to invest securely in this market without actually knowing much about wines. Gone are the days where investors are at the mercy of wine traders and rely on their recommendations and decisions before making a decision.
Wine rating is universally understood and serves as a guide for potential investors all over the world. Providing a platform for a consistent and standardized form of review, wine rating has allowed for more new wine producers to penetrate a market that used to be typically closed up and exclusive to only the 'old-timers.'
Robert Parker
Indisputably the most influential wine critique in the world, Robert Parker's bi-monthly newsletter - The Wine Advocate - has had the most profound effect on both prices and demand for fine wines since 1978.
Using the 100-point scale, Parker starts rating every wine with an initial 50 points. General colour and appearance provides for up to 5 points. Aroma and bouquet contributes up to 15 points. Up to 20 points are awarded for flavour and finish. Lastly, the "overall quality level or potential for further evolution and improvement-aging" merits up to 10 points.
His wine tasting evaluations are done in peer-groups with single-blind conditions, (i.e. the same types of wines are tasted against each other and the producers' names are not known). Price and the reputation of the producing vineyards do not affect the rating in any manner, thus providing for an unbiased and critical look at the wines.
Parker is well-known for the following methods:
- preferring to taste from an entire bottle of wine
- tasting from properly sized and professional tasting glasses
- the temperature of the wine must be correct
- preferring to determine the time allocated to the number of wines to be critiqued
| 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. |
Historically, when Robert Parker scores a wine over 90 points, investors will see a steep rise in its value and demand. That is why many Bordeaux producers these days wait for Parker's ratings to be published before setting the release price of their wines.
Wine Spectator
Reaching an estimate of 2.25 million readers all over the world, Wine Spectator is the largest circulating wine magazine since 2005.
Each of its 16 issues every year contains a large section devoted to wine reviews, where a panel of experts blind tasted and reviewed over 12,400 wines. Its ratings also have an important impact on the wine market.
A long-time advocate of the popular 100-point rating scale, its panel of wine critics score the wines by blind tasting as well. Bottles are bagged and coded, providing little information on the general type of varietals, region or vintage. Again, price is not taken into account, only its potential quality on how good the wines will be when they are at their peaks.
| 95 - 100 | Classic, a great wine. |
| 90 - 94 | Outstanding, a wine of superior character and style. |
| 80 - 89 | Good to very good, a wine with special qualities. |
| 70 - 79 | Average, a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws. |
| 60 - 69 | Below average, drinkable but not recommended. |
| 50 - 59 | Poor, undrinkable, not recommended. |
Stephen Tanzer
Author of the critically acclaimed, independent, bimonthly International Wine Cellar, Stephen Tanzer’s mission is to help you find the finest wines on the market and to avoid the mediocre but often equally expensive bottles.
Since 1985, IWC has been read by wine lovers in 28 countries. Since 1997, the 100% subscriber-based magazine has also been available in French and Japanese editions.
Wines are scored in relation to their peer group based on their expected quality during their period of peak drinkability. When you see a "+" sign after a score, it indicates a wine that is very likely to merit a higher rating in the future.
Wines which are rated 90 or better are highly recommended additions to your cellar. Those rated at least 85 are recommended bottles that should provide pleasurable drinking.
| 95 - 100 | Extraordinary |
| 90 - 94 | Outstanding |
| 85 - 89 | Very good to excellent |
| 80 - 84 | Good |
| 75 - 79 | Average |
| 70 - 74 | Below average |
| < 70 | Avoid |
Decanter Magazine
Whether you are a connoisseur or amateur enthusiast, Decanter magazine is a must-read for anyone with interest in wine. Sold in 92 countries, the publication employs a 1 to 5-star rating system. The panel of experts recommends 4,000 wines a year and all tastings are all conducted blind with different panellists at each tasting.
Jancis Robinson
Winner of many international awards, Jancis Robinson was given an honorary doctorate by The Open University in 1997 and was awarded an OBE in 2004.
Currently, she writes a weekly column for the Financial Times and has been author for many of the standard reference books on wine including The Oxford Companion to Wine and, with Hugh Johnson, The World Atlas of Wine.
For almost 30 years, she has been broadcasting about wines through various channels qualifying her as a Master of Wine. From 1984, she regularly judges and lectures about wine around the world and also presented several award-winning television programmes including Jancis Robinson's Wine Course and Vintners' Tales.
Although Jancis Robinson uses scores out of 20, with the great majority of wines scored somewhere between 15 and 18.5, she is famous for her quote - "I'm not a great fan of the conjunction of numbers and wine. Once numbers are involved, it is all too easy to reduce wine to a financial commodity rather than keep its precious status as a uniquely stimulating source of sensual pleasure and conviviality."
Jancis Robinson 20 Points Scale
James Halliday
One of Australia's most respected wine writers and most senior wine judge, James Halliday has written and co-authored over 40 books on wine since 1979 and has contributed to numerous others, including Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine and the Larousse Encyclopaedia of Wine.
He has been awarded numerous awards for his books, among them the Wine Spectator Book of the Year (Wine Atlas of California), the Gold Award at the World Food Media Awards (Wine Atlas of Australia and New Zealand) and Best Multimedia Lifestyle Product at the Australian Industry Multimedia Awards (James Halliday's Interactive Wine Companion of Australia and New Zealand CD-ROM).
With several of his titles translated into foreign languages, including French, German, Japanese and Danish, James Halliday also maintains a weekly wine column in The Australian newspaper.
| 98 - 100 | Perfection which exists only as an idea |
| 94 - 97 | As close to perfection as the real world will allow |
| 90 - 93 | Excellent wine full of character; of gold medal standard |
| 85 - 89 | Very good wine; clear varietal definition/style; silver verging on gold medal standard |
| 80 - 84 | Good fault-free, flavoursome; high bronze to silver medal standard |
Jeremy Oliver
One of Australia's forefront wine writer and presenter, Jeremy Oliver is a fully independent commentator whose works are published in several countries. He was named the inaugural Wine Writer of the Year by the widely circulated Australian Wine Selector magazine in January 2005.
He is author of the best-selling The Australian Wine Annual, More Thirst for Knowledge and Evans on Earth. Jeremy is a regular contributor to Gourmet Traveller's Wine Magazine, The Australian Way, The Straits Times, Wine & Dine, OLN (UK), Drinks (USA) and a number of other publications around the world.
Jeremy Oliver adopts a wine ranking system which relate to scores out of 100, comparable to different medal standards used in most Australian wine show system.
| 96 + | Top gold medal |
| 94 - 95 | Regular gold medal |
| 92 - 93 | Top silver medal |
| 90 - 91 | Regular silver medal |
| 87 - 89 | Top bronze medal |