Wine rating

A wine review is an assessment carried out by one or more experts in the wine market as winemakers, sommeliers, wine critics or assessment of a wine than facts. The grading takes place after a tasting, which can be done blindly or in the knowledge of the wines tasted wine. The tasting is the investigation of sensory analysis, description and classification of wines. Ideally, the grading is according to standardized procedures. The wine critics use of for the classification of a more or less precise appearing rating scale. Since the early 1980s, is also becoming increasingly used by Robert Parker 50-100 point scale by. The current in the English language works by Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate use the same scales. Other wine critic Jancis Robinson and Michael Broadbent how to use a 0-20 or 0-5 continuous rating scale. In particular, the latter scale likes to use a form of representation in the form of stars, which, if desired, by half notes (or half stars ) can be added. The Italian Gambero Rosso and the French Guide Hachette, both annuals, reduced his scheme on a scale of 0-3 ( in the form of glasses or stars ), where the mere mention of the particular wine is already a sign that the wine above average is. An overall assessment of the estate is not made. In addition to evaluating a verbal description should supplement the marks in the form of a wine talk.

Since each taster has a different way of how a good wine has to taste, but also the results of individual tasters are rarely comparable to each other. As an example, the rating of Château Pavie of the vintage to be taken in 2003 (Parker: 96/100; Jancis Robinson: 12/20). Over time, however, a consumer can discover whether his own conception of a good wine coincides with that of a wine critic.

A classification of the sensory test is important to investigate the success on the market. In the production process the company's internal rating of a continuous quality check is used. The development of new products is accompanied with comparative rating to already known wines.

In recent years, the Internet facilitates the creation of forums and communities, which allows any user of the site to deliver its personal assessment. While the system of yearbooks or individual wine critic is to ensure comparability, this is no longer possible with forums and communities. To this may be relevant at a number of tastings also give a good overall picture of wine quality and thus complement the wine review as a whole makes sense.

The comparison of some scale systems

The 5- point scheme

The assessment of the 5 -point system is based on the three criteria smell, taste and harmony, as is the case also in the allocation of official test number. The DLG used this system at the federal Wine awards for wine and sparkling wine The same applies if he country award for Wine and Champagne

  • 0: severely flawed
  • 1: faulty
  • 2: satisfactory
  • 3: good
  • 4: very good
  • 5: excellent

The 20 - point scheme

The 20 - point scheme is widely used in Europe. The evaluation criteria are as follows:

  • Color: Failed, ugly - 0 points / response - 1 point / very nice color - 2 points
  • Clarity and purity: cloudy, dusty, dull, dull - 0 points / clear, pure - 1 point / crystal clear, brilliant - 2 points.
  • Smell ( perfume, flower, bouquet ): no odor evident bad to corrupt - 0 points / weak, diffuse, behave - 1 point / appealing, clean, reintönig - 2 points / very good accordance, fragrant, finely - 3 points / characteristic, very fine and pronounced - 4 points.
  • Taste (body, extract, sweetness, acidity, tannin ): spoiled, bad - 0 points / no wine taste, strange - 1 point / blank, thin, little expression - 2 points / straight - 3 points / reintönig, expressive - 4-5 points / full-bodied, aromatic, rich, full of character - 6 points / style, outstanding, perfect - 7 points.
  • Overall impression (harmony, finesse, finish ): poor, inharmonious - 0 points / short finish, little harmony - 1 point / good overall impression - 2-3 points / medium to long finish, balanced, typical, delicate - 4 points / long finish, very finely, very harmonious, great wine - 5 points.

The underlying of the wine review is 0, making it the lowest possible rating. The individual scores of color, clarity and purity, taste and smell are added and released as final grade. The details of the individual criteria are rarely made public. The same applies to the 20-point system, which is known as the COS. COS is derived from the Latin words Color ( color, clarity ), odor ( smell) and Sapor (taste ) from. The criteria are defined as follows:

  • Color: appearance, color, clarity, with a maximum of 2 points, ¨
  • Odor: odor with a maximum of 6 points,
  • Sapor: taste with a maximum of 8 points and
  • Overall impression: a maximum of 4 points

The COS system weights the criteria smell and taste thus stronger than the above-mentioned 20 - point system.

Allen 20-point systems, the following statement is common: wines with a rating of 10 points or less shall be considered defective. Between 10 and 12 points of the wines are not satisfactory. From 12 to 14 points, the wines are considered good, 14 to 16 points already considered very good. About 16 points are excellent wines reserved and from 18 points one speaks of top quality. The Swiss wine critic René Gabriel gives exceptional top quality, even the mark 21 / 20th

The 100 - point scheme

Robert Parker uses the now internationally famous 100 - point scale. The general understanding of this scale could also be due to the fact that carried many international school grading systems for a 100-point standard.

The underlying of the wine rating according to the Parker - points is 50 points, making it the lowest possible rating. The underlying is a value of max. 5 points for the appearance of the wine, max. 15 points for the smell, max. Awarded 20 points for flavor and another 10 points for overall impression. Wines with a total score 50-75 are considered to be weak, 75-79 as average, 80-84 as successful, 85-89 managed to be very, 90-95 as remarkable and 96-100 as exceptional.

History

The wine rating by numbers is a relatively new phenomenon. In the past, the wines were judged by tasting notes. The authors made ​​use of a more or less complex language of wine. Since the 1960s, the wine market was becoming increasingly international and the interested wine drinkers was allowed to deal with a variety of new wine regions and unknown wineries. When buying guide for the consumer, the first evaluation schemes that drew attention to a view of interesting wines to the consumer emerged. Quick showed the success of this system, which actually is not judged comparable products for comparison. The wine critic Robert Parker here plays the role to have made this system popular.

Add the wine critics gave this kind of wine rating the opportunity to present at a glance dozens or even hundreds of wines in condensed form. The trade gave critics an easy to understand marketing tool at hand.

Meanwhile, a high market quoted wines has formed. Bottles with a rating of 90 or more points can sell very easily. Wines with 95 or more points now enjoy cult status that are sought worldwide. Due to the imbalance between the limited supply and the general demand, prices of such plants rose above average and are no longer affordable for a normal earning wine drinkers. Around this cult wines The industry has been formed, which operates speculation with the enjoyment of wine object. Since 1999 there is the Liv -ex Fine Wine Index, which tracks the price performance of the 100 most wanted wines.

Criticism

The number of bonded wine criticism is always exposed to criticism. The evaluation of wines by point allocation provides for a larger selection of wines a good orientation, which is hardly possible by tasting notes. Points are awarded as compared to the respective ideal type. The definition of each ideal type is subject to the prevailing tasters dependent. On the other hand dangles a 100 -point scale to be an absolute statement of quality.

For tasting notes using the language of wine can be addressed to the respective properties of a wine. But since there is often no word for a certain flavor in the language may lead to misinterpretations. For amateurs often have difficulty understanding of professional wine descriptions of how they are used in professional journalism or tastings. Especially the kind of symbolic concretization of the wine provides here irritations.

Competing valuation systems of various wine critics

Recognized wine critics who make use of a scale- based system are:

  • Michael Broadbent (up to 5 stars)
  • René Gabriel / Weinwisser / 10 /20 to 21/20 GP
  • Michael Liebert / price-pleasure - rating (up to 100 points)
  • Peter Moser / Falstaff (up to 100 points)
  • Jancis Robinson (up to 20 points)
  • Jean Marc Quarin (up to 20 points)
  • Mario Scheuermann (up to 100 points)
  • James Suckling / Winespectator / 50-100 WS
  • Eckhard Supp / ENO WorldWine (up to 5 stars)
  • Gault Millau (up to 20 points)
  • Vinaria (up to 20 points at competitions in the professional journal; 1 to 5 stars in the annual VINARIA Guide)
  • Wein-Plus / ( to 100 points)
  • Wein.pur / 1 to 5 glasses
Judgment (disambiguation) Degustation German Agricultural Society Gault-Millau
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