Ratings, Scores, and Their Relative Value
I’ll start our adventure into the wine world with my preface about critics and their published reviews. There are thousands of wineries and producers with a multitude of varietals and blends produced. To further complicate matters, they produce them vintage after vintage. How, as consumers, are we supposed to decide on which ones to pursue, which ones to hold onto for an optimum drinking experience, and which ones are just flat out wretched? Quite a few of us rely on publications such as Wine Spectator or Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. These wine professionals taste through hundreds of thousands of wines every year, microanalyzing them, and issuing a numerical score along with a tasting note based on their experience with that wine. At first, I relied heavily on these reviews to help learn what I was tasting, what a good versus great wine was, and the difference between vintages. However, after time, ones palate takes over as the driving force to what is preferred. What a 90 point Australian Shiraz once delivered might not be the same 90 point wine years down the road. After establishing likes and dislikes, scores and reviews need to be used as tools, not as a crutch. Read the review. A 95 point Bordeaux that shows nuances of tobacco, smoke, herbs, and burnt toast might not appeal to an Australian Shiraz drinker that prefers jammy berries, high octane alcohol, and spice. This said, I will use the esteemed professionals as references, while maintaining my own opinion, colleague’s opinions, and steering away from a point system. I look forward to exploring the world of wine with you.
“Wine is the most civilized thing in the world.”
-Ernest Hemingway