What does a 90-point wine rating mean?

The 100-point bands, side by side

The two best-known 100-point scales do not really start at zero. The Wine Advocate, whose rating system Robert Parker created with its first issue, states that wines receive a rating of 50 to 100 points, and Wine Spectator's lowest band is 50 to 74. Most of the named bands sit above 70.

Wine Spectator publishes its scale as: 95 to 100, Classic, a great wine; 90 to 94, Outstanding, a wine of superior character and style; 85 to 89, Very good, a wine with special qualities; 80 to 84, Good, a solid, well-made wine; 75 to 79, Mediocre, a drinkable wine that may have minor flaws; and 50 to 74, Not recommended.

The Wine Advocate draws its lines differently: 96 to 100 is extraordinary, 90 to 95 outstanding, 80 to 89 barely above average to very good, 70 to 79 average, 60 to 69 below average with noticeable deficiencies, and 50 to 59 unacceptable. So a 90 means outstanding at both publications, but an 88 is "very good" at Wine Spectator and sits in a band The Wine Advocate describes as "barely above average to very good."

How a critic arrives at the number

Wine Spectator says its tasters judge a wine's structure, flavors, and typicity, which it defines as how well the wine reflects its grape variety, region, and vintage. Its reviews are done blind, meaning the taster does not know the producer or the price. The magazine describes a score as an attempt to quantify a judgment that has both subjective and objective components.

The Wine Advocate calls its rating the reviewer's quantitative commentary on the relative quality of the wine at the time of tasting, measured against its peer group, such as the same style, region, or grape variety. The score reflects the wine at its best: a corked or defective bottle is disregarded and the wine is retasted from a fresh bottle where possible, and when a wine has been tasted several times, the score is a cumulative average. Parker chose a 100-point scale because he felt 20-point systems lacked flexibility and often produced compressed and inflated ratings.

Ranges, plus signs, and other marks

A score written as a range is a preliminary estimate, usually from a barrel sample of unfinished wine. Wine Spectator has used rolling four-point spreads for these since March 2008, so one wine might be listed at 85-88 and another at 87-90. It says most barrel tastings remain blind and that non-blind ones are noted.

The Wine Advocate puts barrel estimates in parentheses, as in (90-93). A plus sign, as in 95+, means the reviewer believes the wine may improve in bottle and could warrant a higher score at a later tasting. A question mark in place of a score flags a bottle that was faulty or unusual and needs another look. The letters RP before a score stand for Robert Parker Wine Advocate, the company, so the score may come from any of its reviewers rather than from Parker himself.

What the number does not tell you

The Wine Advocate is direct about the limits of its own scores: they do not reveal the important facts about a wine. Its rating page says the written tasting note that accompanies a score is a better guide to the wine's style and personality, its quality against its peers, and its value and aging potential than any number could be.

That matters because a score measures a wine against others of its kind, not against your taste. A high score for a big, oaky red tells you that a critic thought it was an excellent example of that style. It says nothing about whether you enjoy that style. If you prefer lighter, higher-acid reds, the tasting note will tell you more about the bottle than the number on the shelf tag.

Common mistakes when shopping by score

Mixing scales. A 90 from one publication and a 90 from another are not the same measurement, and as the bands above show, even the words attached to the numbers differ. Reading a barrel range as a final score. A range, or a score in parentheses, is an estimate made on unfinished wine.

Ignoring the vintage. Wine Spectator's tasters judge how a wine reflects its vintage, and The Wine Advocate scores a wine at the time of tasting, so a score belongs to one vintage, not to the label in general. Skipping the note. The score is the summary; the note is where you find out whether the wine is your style.

Keep a score of your own

A critic's score compares a wine with its peers. Your own score can answer a simpler question: did you like it, and would you buy it again? J.J. Buckley's guide to tasting notes recommends simply creating your own rating system with stars or points. Add one line on why you gave the score, so the number still makes sense a year from now.

Sipbook is set up for that kind of private score: each bottle gets your rating from 0.5 to 5 stars and an answer to Would I have it again?, no one else's ratings appear anywhere in the app, and the Stats tab shows how your own ratings are distributed.

Frequently asked questions