Wine Ratings explained

The wine scores used in our webshop contain scores on 100 as well as scores on 20, as well as scores on 5. Scores on 100 is called the American points system, the scores on 20 are the French points system. The scores out of 5 are used by, among others, the Vivino app; with values from 1 to 5, such as Tripadvisor, Bol, AirBnb and Amazon use

The higher the score, the higher the perceived quality of the wine. Although a high rating is certainly no guarantee that you will also really like the wine. Factors such as environment and situation, even with professional tasters, also play a role. Because who does not know that a glass of wine while traveling, sitting comfortably on a terrace in the sun once at home tastes slightly different ...

Of course a high score is an indication that it may well be a very nice wine. That is why we believe that giving a score is important information for you as a wine lover. We publish the wine scores of Wine enthusiast, Revista de vinhos, Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, Stephen Tanzer & James Suckling.

 

Wines with a score from 80 become really interesting, in the 20-point system this starts from 16 points. Really interesting are wines with a score starting at 85.

But what does that score ultimately mean? To help you get started, we list the common definitions below.

The scores in the 100-point system can be described as follows:

95-100 points

An extraordinary wine with a deep and complex character in which all the properties are represented that can be expected from a classic wine of its origin. It is worth the quest to find, buy and consume wines of this caliber. Few wines get this top rating because there aren't many really great wines.

90-94 points

An excellent wine of exceptional complexity and character. These are simply great wines.

85-89 points

A very good wine with varying degrees of finesse, taste and character without noticeable flaws. These wines generally offer great value for money.

80-84 points

An above average wine with varying degrees of finesse, taste and character without noticeable flaws.

70-79 points

An average wine with little distinctive character, except that it is solidly made. Basically a simple wine.

Wines with a score from 69 and below are not part of our offer.

The scores in the 20-point system can be described as follows:

20 points: Exceptional.

19 points: Deserves close attention.

18 points: Slightly above superior.

17 points: Superior.

16 points: Remarkable.

15 points: Average.

14 points: Under Average

Vivino's 5-point system

Where the above wine scores come from a panel of professional wine critics, the scores in Vivino come from the consumer

The Vivino app that consumers use to share their data, scan and charge wine labels is active in 227 countries and has over 38 million users. With a database of 964 million bottle scans from 217,000 wine producers, this is the largest platform worldwide (September 2019). The average score is 3.6, which means that this is a nice everyday wine. Wines with a score of 4.0 are less common because, according to the same study, they rank better than 85 percent of the 9.64 million wines in the Vivino database. Wines rated 4.5 are extraordinary as they are better than 99 percent of the wines you see on Vivino. So, a rating of more than 4.5 means that you have found something very rare and special.

 

What about Vivino vs Robert Parker & Wine Enthusiast scores?

In 2015, Vivino conducted a survey to find out if the Robert Parker and Wine Enthusiast scores can be compared to Vivino's 5-star system.

While the Parker and Wine Enthusiast ratings are done by a few people, Vivino is always rated by many more testers. In this comparison, Vivino analyzed more than 5,000 wines that were rated on all three panels. In addition, Vivino had to have a minimum of 30 ratings. The results are in the chart below (source: Vivino).

 

Did you find this information helpful? Feel free to leave a message on this blog.

Reviews

Blog