The Culinary Works

I used to think that wine scores really meant something. A wine that got 85 out of 100 should be fairly decent. That is a solid B. It won't knock my socks off, but I would be happy taking it home to my parents. A score of 90 is an A. It should rock, right??? After a few recent disappointments tasting wines in the 90 point range, I did some reading. I have to say I was quite surprised by what I found.

Wines scores are common place in almost every wine aisle: supermarket, specialty store or warehouse store. Just to get everyone on the same page, a wine score is a numerical rating that wine reviewers give to a wine based on a series of common elements that describe a wines appearance, aroma, flavor, body, etc.

The wine scoring systems have enabled wine traders and potential investors to purchase wines without actually knowing anything about the wine. Great for them, but what about us? The wine score has also allowed new wine drinkers to make decisions on their own, independent of their local wine outlets. Unlike the tasting notes, which are often fairly personal, wine scores are something that can be understood universally. Or at least they should be.

Even so, it is still not as clear as it should be. It seems that every reviewer and publication has their own method of assigning a score to a wine. They use guidelines that are similar to one another, but the resulting scoring systems are often quite different. So what gives?

Who scores the wines?

As easy as it is to build a blog ( look at us, we did it ) there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of wine reviews out there. When it comes down to it, there are only a few major voices that are setting the standards

Many people may recognize the Robert Parker and Wilfred Wong. Other will recognize the names of the publications Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate Journal or Wine Enthusiast. For the most part, these are the people that producing wine scores that we hear about. Let's look at a few of them first.

Below are detailed explanations of some of the individual schemes:

Robert Parker: The Wine Advocate

Robert Parker is most likely the most influential wine critic in the world. He publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, The Wine Advocate and what he says usually has a serious effect both on prices and demand. Wine Advocate journal and his website use his version of the 100-point scale. Like the other 100 point scales, 50 is the lowest possible score. Here is a breakdown of his scale:

Wine Spectator's 100-Point Scale

The Wine Spectator also uses a 100-point rating scale. Like Parker's scale, the lowest score is also a 50.

Wine Enthusiast 100-Point Scale

The Wine Spectator also uses a 100-point rating scale. Like Parker's scale, the lowest score is also a 50.

The 100 point scales roughly compare to the familiar American public school A-F grading system. A wine that scores 90-100 ranges from outstanding to extraordinary; 80-89 ranks just above average to very good, 70-79 is average. A wine score of 69 and below is below average and not even worthy of deglazing a sauce pan.

Is there a simple answer

Not everyone in the industry uses the 100 point scale. Seasoned taster Jancis Robinson (http://www.jancisrobinson.com/), studied mathematics and philosophy at Oxford University, scores wine with a 1 to 20 scale. Many of the wines that she judges are scored somewhere between 15 and 18.5. She comments, "...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."

The Wall Street Journal, Decanter Magazine, New York Time use stars. But hold on, they don't use the same number of stars. Wall Street and Decanter use five stars, New York times uses four.

Stop, I want to get off.

If your head is starting to spin, go ahead and take a deep breath. Ok, now click on this link: http://www.delongwine.com/how_we_rate_wines.pdf.

No, go ahead, I will wait. So now you see all the rating systems together on one page, and it is really not so daunting.

For me, I make the process easier by ranking my wine purchases. As I see it, it all comes down to what I am looking for. In most cases, I am either looking for one of three kinds of wine:

1. A great wine: I want something to save for a special day. Something that I know is going to be a great wine to share with friends. I am looking for something in the 'A' wine range. This is a wine I will put down on the bottom of the wine rack, maybe even in my sock drawer to keep it safe.
2. A good wine: I want something that I know will be a good drinking wine. This is a wine that would be opened for a pasta dinner with friends or something to simply accompany an afternoon in the back yard watching the grass grow.
3. A solid wine: Nothing fancy, should taste good. I would have no problems drinking this while BBQ'ing hot dogs. I would also have no problem dumping a few bottles of this into a jar to make a batch of Sangria or using a bottle to make sauce.

Alternatives to the wine scores

To be honest, following wine scores can still lead you astray. I have tasted quite a few 90+ point wines that I thought were awful and many unrated wines that were amazing. I have also tasted many that were amazing, yet they have never been rated. The truth is, many wines will never be rated by any process more complicated that the local county fair. It is up to you to go find them! Here's how:

1 - Go to the Winery

Yes, gather some friends, get in the car, pack a picnic and go. But before you go, do some research. What kind of wine do you like? Go to wineries that make what you like, and try everything else that they have to offer.

Most wineries don't have the opportunity to get all of their wines on the shelves of your local wine shop or supper market. Going to the winery gives you the opportunity not to taste at the source, but you can often purchase wines that are only for sale on the premises. If you go at the right time, you may also have the opportunity to buy at a discount when they need to clear out last year's wine from the warehouse to make room for this year's harvest.

In some cases, smaller wineries make amazing wines, but their production levels are so low that they are never scored for the commercial market.

2 - Go to a tasting

Check out your local wine shops for in-store tastings. Small wine shops like Lakeforest Wines in El Dorado Hills has regular weekly tasting of really great wines. Your BevMo stores also have beer and wine tastings events at all of their stores. Total Wines and More has 5 cent tastings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons in addition to special monthly tastings that focus on a world region or varietal. Also check your to see if your local store has an employee favorites section.

3 - Have a tasting party

Tasting wine at home can some time be a daunting task: especially if you have several bottles on your list to taste and evaluate. Even for the die-hard, a multi bottle tasting session can end up with you staring into the eyes of the family dog saying, "I love you man!"

Call up your friends: pick a region, color or varietal and invite your friends. You can do a blind tasting, compare the same varietal from different regions or even have a food pairing party. Talk about the aromas, the flavors and share your thoughts. A great benefit to tasting in a group is that others may pick out and identify aromas or flavors that you miss, and vice-verse.

What else?

I have found that learning about wine has really helped me to appreciate and enjoy wine tasting to the fullest. Unfortunately, there is no single book or web site that will give you all the answers. A good place to start is on my favorite web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_tasting.

My advice: just start tasting. Try some wine with a good or very good rating and see what you thing. Try a bottle that received a good score at a competition like the state fair. Try in-store recommendations. When you find out you like a wine recommended by a particular person, publication or web site: stick with them as long as you are enjoying their recommendations..

Most of all, enjoy!

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