Wine Ratings: Helpful Guide or Overhyped Numbers?

I was very lucky to attend and graduate from the Wine Program at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. One of my favorite instructors — among the earliest Master Sommeliers — used to say that the holy grail of wine was a $12 bottle. Adjusting for inflation, let's call that $16 today. The point wasn’t about chasing 98-point trophies. It was about finding honest, delicious wine at a price that didn’t require justification.

Rating systems abound — from movies and restaurants to home repair — to the point that people often can’t make a judgment without someone telling them it’s good, bad, or indifferent. Some poo-poo wine ratings as merely marketing gimmicks; others won’t buy any wine with a score less than 95. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. While most ratings are subjective, wine ratings can provide more structured guidance and help consumers make informed choices.

Just Where Did Wine Scores Come From?

Wine critic Robert Parker developed the 100-point rating system in the 1980s. It was quickly adopted as the standard by which wines were judged.

Think of wine ratings like dog shows. Judges select the dogs that most typify their breed. Wine judging is similar: critics evaluate how well a wine represents its grape, style, and place of origin.

Here’s the scale:

95–100 wines are benchmark examples or deemed “classic.”

90–94 wines are “superior” to “exceptional.”

85–89 wines are “good” to “very good.”

80–84 wines are “above average” to “good.”

70–79 wines are flawed or taste average.

60–69 wines are flawed and not recommended, though drinkable.50–59 wines are flawed and undrinkable.

So the next question is: who decides what’s good, superior, or classic?

Therein lies the rub. Wine judges and critics have their own preferences and biases. Some lean toward big, bold wines; others prefer complex, subtle wines. They can usually agree on wines with clear production flaws, but once you move into the 90+ territory, things can get dicey.

The major publications — Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate (Robert Parker), Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, and James Suckling — all have subtle differences in philosophy and scoring tendencies.

So how does a consumer navigate? A few schools of thought:

1. Find your match. If ratings matter to you, try bottles reviewed by different critics and see whose palate aligns most closely with yours.

2. Understand context. Not all 90-point wines taste the same. A 90-point French wine will be very different from a 90-point California wine.

3. Remember what isn’t rated. Many wines never receive scores. Recommendations from a trusted local wine shop or friends may prove more valuable.

4. Keep perspective. Wine ratings were meant to help people make better purchases — not to cause angst.

Wine is supposed to be fun, not complicated. Use ratings as a guidepost, not scripture. And remember, a large percentage of wine is never rated at all — which means there’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored.