100 point and even 20 point scales are really pretty pointless
I’ve been thinking about coming up with a very simple rating system for clear and easy guidance. The wine shows still use the old 20 point system, but any wine scoring less than 15.5 points – the lowest score for a bronze medal – is usually not worth a lot of serious consideration. It’s the last 5 points that make all the difference: 17 – 18.5 is a silver medal, 18.5 and above a gold.
It’s much the same with the 100 point system that’s become so popular with reviewers: it’s the 10 points between 87 and 97 that count. The official version goes like this:
95 – 100 Gold - wines of the highest quality
90 – 94 Silver - wines of great quality, style and character
86 – 89 Bronze – wines of above average quality
Looking at James Halliday’s Wine Companion scores, its rare to find one outside that 87 – 97 point range. So do we really need more than 10 points? No, we don’t. So why the complicated systems? Wine writers making out they can score wines with surgical precision? Sure. Here’s a much simpler system:
10 – a truly memorable wine, a potential classic
9 – an outstanding wine, a great example of
its style and origin
8 – a fine wine that delivers more than the label promises
7 – a good, thoroughly enjoyable wine punching above its price
6 – a solid wine you can rely on enjoying at any time
5 – a decent wine that is well made and offers
some authentic flavour
4 – an easy-on-the-gums wine you might serve your non-wine drinking friends at a barbie
3 – a wine you should avoid unless there’s no other choice
2 – a wine so bad you should drink something else instead
1 – pure rotgut
Please note:
Price has no influence on my ratings. In other words, a 6 point score beats a 5 point score regardless of price. However, a $7 wine that scores 5 will be better value than a $20 wine that scores 6. By way of a broader comparison, my rating of 9 is roughly equivalent to other reviewers ratings of 95-96 (gold medal standard). Here’s the expanded comparison scale:
10 = 97 - 98
9 = 95 - 96
8 = 93 - 94
7 = 91 – 92
6 = 90 – 91
5 = 89 – 90
4 = 87 – 88
Where we need more granularity, I will add a + or a – . Simple, isn't?
Kim
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