Ratings and Reviews

At WineBid.com we want to give you as much information as possible about the wines we offer. That includes letting you know what the world's most knowledgeable critics have written about the wines in our auctions. In the description accompanying auction lots you will usually see ratings and short commentaries about the wine taken directly from critics' journals, websites or books, or from well-known wine magazines. Below is the list of sources we use for ratings and reviews, and the abbreviations we use for them in the lot descriptions.

WineBid.com will occasionally provide ratings and reviews from sources other than those listed above, and will identify the taster and/or publication in each case. Below is a brief explanation of the rating systems used by wine writers and publications and explanations of terms frequently used in reviews.

Wine Spectator's 100-Point Scale

Wine Spectator is a longtime advocate of the popular 100-point rating scale. Wine Spectator editors describe their rating process like this: "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." Here is how the magazine explains its scoring system:

Robert M. Parker Jr.'s Wine Advocate Rating Scale

Parker is the world's most influential reviewer of wines. His bi-monthly Wine Advocate journal and his website use his version of the 100-point scale, which, like the Wine Spectator, is really a 50-point scale.

Parker's tastings are done in peer-group, single-blind conditions, which means that the same types of wines are tasted at the same time, though the producer of each wine is not disclosed at the time of the tasting. In his journal, Parker notes that he gives every wine an initial 50 points simply for being there. General color and appearance can merit up to five points. Aroma and bouquet merit up to 15 points. Flavor and finish merit up to 20 points. Finally, the "overall quality level or potential for further evolution and improvement-aging" merits up to 10 points.

A range of scores in parentheses indicates that Parker tasted the wine before it was bottled, therefore before it was completely finished, and has estimated the score it would likely receive if finished. Allen Meadows at Burghound.com and some other reviewers also use parentheses to indicate tastings done as barrel samples. Parker explains his ratings in this way:

Other Publications/Websites Using a 100-Point Scale

The 100-point system of rating wines has come into common use. Other reviewers who use it include Stephen Tanzer of International Wine Cellar, James Laube author of California Wine, James Halliday, author of many books and reviews on Australian wines, and Allen Meadows of Burghound.com.

Five Star Rating Systems

Decanter magazine is the most influential wine periodical in England, and has a dedicated readership worldwide. This publication employs a 1- to 5-star rating system popularized by Michael Broadbent in his Great Vintage Wine Book. Decanter tastings are conducted blind, and participating panelists change with each tasting.

Other Rating Systems

Clive Coates, a widely respected English wine writer and critic, uses a 1- through 20-point system for wine ratings. In reality, the lowest score he is likely to give is 12 points, which he says means "poor." His highest score is usually 19 points, which means "very fine indeed."

Jancis Robinson, a long-time English wine writer, author and critic, also uses a 20-point rating system. She says that "in general I am pretty mean with my scores" and describes them like this: "19 denotes something truly exceptional. 18 signifies a humdinger. 17 is a definite cut above 16, which is superior. 15 is average but undistinguished. 12-13 is usually unbalanced or faulty in some way. 14 means deadly dull or borderline unbalanced."

The quarterly Gambero Rosso, a respected Italian publication on Italian wines, uses what is essentially a 1-3 point rating system, though the magazine calls the symbols it awards "bicchieri," Italian for wine glasses. A single bicchiere means "above average to good in its category." Two bicchieri means "very good to excellent in its category." Three bicchieri means "outstanding in its category."

David Schildknecht of International Wine Cellar uses an asterisk system rather than a numerical rating. He describes his succinct rating system like this: "Wines designated with an asterisk were particularly impressive. Two asterisks signifies a wine of clearly profound complexity." Like other critics, he stresses that purchase decisions should never be based solely on ratings. In general he gives wines either one or two asterisks.

Commentary in Wine Reviews

Wine critics and wine publications that offer numeric ratings also write commentary about the wines they critique. Most critics stress that readers should refer to their commentaries at least as much as their numerical ratings to get a true sense of the wines' qualities. Here are a few commonly used terms when critiquing wine, though all reviewers also come up with their own unique terms.

• Astringent: Though not always a flaw, astringency results from courser tannins.
• Balance: Essential in high quality wines, it describes a harmony of all elements.
• Baked: A cooked character to the fruit elements in the wine resulting from grapes getting too hot in the sun.
• Body: The expansiveness of a wine on the palate, usually relating to degrees of alcohol and sugar.
• Clean: Suggesting a wine free of defects and having a fresh quality.
• Dry: Usually a description indicating no taste of sugar in the wine, but might also describe an older wine that is losing all fruit qualities.
• Dumb: A wine unable to show its complete character because it is either too young or too cold.
• Elegant: A rather ephemeral term used most often to describe wines of a more delicate nature that also deliver complex taste in a balanced fashion.
• Fat: Often used to describe wines of low acidity. "Flabby" is an alternate word to describe a wine with an overabundance of oily or buttery qualities.
• Finish: Literally the aftertaste in a wine. To say the "wine has finish" is to suggest its flavors linger on the palate for longer than the average wine. This is a hallmark of very good wines.
• Firm: Used to describe a wine, often whites, which strike the palate with higher acidity levels and which leave the impression of being sharp. The term describes not only wines of higher acidity, but also often young wines.
• Flat: A wine without much flavor. Also applied to wines with low levels of acidity.
• Fruity: The distinctive taste of fruit, usually fresh fruit ranging from melon to pineapple to citrus and apple. Most often found in young wines.
• Green: A description of taste rather than flavor. Applied to wines in which flavors are unripe, often having an herbal quality. Usually found in young wines with higher acidity.
• Hard: Usually applied to wines with an overabundance of tannins or acidity.
• Hot: Describing wines usually high in alcohol that tends to "burn" the nose or palate in the way that hard spirits do. Expected and accepted in dessert wines, but can be a flaw in still wines.
• Mouth-Filling: A wine of great intensity in both flavor and body. A wine that appears to touch every area of the palate and mouth.
• Oaky: The characteristics in a wine associated with the results of oak aging, such as an abundance of vanilla, roasted and cedary qualities. When these aromas over- reach, the term oaky is not positive.
• Perfumed: The term used to describe intense flavors or aromas of flowers and sweetness often found in dessert wines and some Riesling, Viognier and Gewurztraminer.
• Round: A reference to flavors in which all elements balance into a softer character. Usually applied to ripe wines rich in flavor.
• Sharp: A distinguishing characteristic of wines high in acidity or tannins.
• Supple: Used to describe the tactile impression of a wine that is easy and pleasing to drink, though not necessarily void of tannin, overly sweet or highly alcoholic.
• Tight: Often used to describe young wines.