WINE SCORES – THE WINE EXPERIENCE

Hi my name is constantinbaum i’m a Master of wine and the other day i had a Long conversation about a topic And it triggered me to make a video About it so today i’m going to talk About a weirdly divisive topic Wine scores [Music] Wine scores are widely criticized in the World of wine even people I really respect hate them my parting Comments i think the 100 point scale Really sucks it’s horrible it’s Nasty it’s childish And we shouldn’t really be using it i Would argue that the practice of scoring Wines is Very successful because it is so useful But this is not a popular opinion But before we get into the nitty-gritty Of it let’s back up a little And talk about the history of scoring in The wine world Even though we often talk about wine Ratings as if they were a pretty recent Phenomenon They have been around for a long time People have been rating vineyards for Centuries the maquis of pombal for Example established a system to rate The vineyards used for the port Production in the mid 18th century In champaign all villages are rated in The shell de cruz system

Between 80 and 100 the lowest rung is Rated between 80 and 89 The premier crew villages are rated 90 To 99 and the grand cru villages Are rated 100 percent we all know the Bordeaux classification of 1855 Where chateaus are rated in five Different categories and we also know The burgundy classification Where vineyards are rated in four Different categories with premier crew And ground crew at the top Also the practice of rating individual Wines has been around for a long time In germany for example in order to Qualify for quality surveillance status A wine has to be tasted by a panel of Tasters And they rate the wines on a 5 point Scale the wine needs at least 1.5 points In order to qualify As qualitative wine so ratings of Wineries vineyards and wines are nothing New and even though people sometimes Complain About one or the other classification System they are pretty well established Rating wine however was taken to a Totally different level when one person Entered the scene robert parker robert Parker was a lawyer and became the most Influential wine critic in the world He started his publication the wine Advocate in 1978

And in addition to writing articles and Tasting notes about the wines He also added a score to every one of Those wines robert parker Introduced the 100 point scale that is Today the international standard for Rating wines so the scale doesn’t start At zero it starts at 50 instead for An unacceptable wine and goes up to 100 Points for a perfect wine One with 70 to 79 points is average One with 80 to 89 points is above Average to very good and the one with 90 To 100 points is outstanding too Extraordinary I use the 100 point scale myself because I find it pretty straightforward and Easy to use If you want to learn more about the Rating system just go to Robertparker.com Over the years robert parker became more And more influential in the wine world And his scores carried a lot of weight Because consumers like this easy to Understand scoring system By the way if you like this video and Then give me a thumbs up this would Really help me and now back to the video I think the reason why many people Dislike the 100 point scale is not Because it’s a bad system but rather Because it’s such a successful System it was actually so successful

That winemakers changed the way They made the wine in order to get a Higher score because high scores Equaled high prices you can actually see The impact that parker had on the market If you look at the price development Of the 2008 la fete when robert parker Released his score of 98 to 100 points So a potentially perfect wine the price Of a case of that wine Increased by 75 percent overnight robert Parker actually became a king maker when He wrote about The small unknown winery in 1997 that They are in 1995 for the other hand wine Was a blockbuster and that his readers Should get onto the mailing list of that Wineries His readers followed and a new cult Winery was born Cine quan non all of a sudden wineries That did not have a great track record Were able to get the same score as a Famous chateau from bordeaux Or a well-known domain from burgundy it Was not about The history of the estate it was about The quality And the glass there were many reasons Why robert parker was so successful But there was one main reason why the 100 point scale was so successful It was easy to understand wine is a Complicated product and it’s difficult

To communicate Efficiently about its quality a score Makes it easy to understand which ones Were the best ones in the tasting You don’t even have to understand the Language in order to understand what the Quality of a certain wine is You can also add scores to websites and Catalogs of wine merchants pretty easily And sort by them and you can also put a Score in relation to the price Would you rather drink a 95 point wine For 95 us dollars or would you prefer to Drink Two bottles of 90 point wines for 45 Dollars in total I personally find the 100 point scale Very useful if you taste a lot of wines Your tasting notes become a little bit Repetitive and a little bit meaningless If you have to put a score to each and Every one it really forces you to think About the quality of the wine In relation to all of the other ones That you’ve tasted before Tasting notes allow you to be Wishy-washy while the score is a firm Commitment But as an example let’s read some Tasting notes from some of the most Well-known Wine publications this one is from Chancesrobinson.com Flowery light appley with a nice crunch

To the acidity And laziness to the bubbles i mean i’m Guessing this is a sparkling wine but What does this really tell me about the Quality Of the wine and whether i should buy This one or Just any other sparkling wine but let’s Have a look at another one that i Randomly Picked pale ruby very savory and light Light-bodied With lift and celine quality on the end Only a hint of rose petals Very delicate i wonder whether i ought To be drinking this With fish rather than lamb but it Certainly has an interesting finish Salty and fruity tamarind question mark Yeah okay let’s have a look at another One from robertparker.com the palette is Medium bodied with Sweet and embracing entry caressing in Texture thanks to the succulent tannin Though these are counter poised by the Silver bead of acidity There’s just a touch of sorted licorice That pops up On the finish this is for the 2014 lipa And it sounds pretty good Until you realize that it only received 93 points And the bottle cost 2 000 us dollars All of a sudden the 2014 chateau pouisia

Sounds like an amazing deal because it Also received 93 points And it costs only 40 us dollars a bottle So wine scores are really useful But there are obviously also problems With wine scores for one they imply a Precision that is simply not there I can give a wine 94 points today and Might score 95 points next week that said i don’t Think that i would score the same one 85 points the week after the other Problem is the inflation of scores Wines are obviously getting better and Better but scores are also getting Higher and higher And some of that is not just due to the Quality of the wines There’s a certain incentive for Journalists to score wines a little bit Higher because if you have the highest Score On a popular wine you’re more likely to Appear in the media Or in catalogs from wine merchants you All know which wine critics i’m talking About Scores can also be influenced by Personal preference the 2003 pavi Was a great example for that because it Caused the clash between two of the Titans of the wine world Robert parker gave it this review a Brilliant effort paville along with

Ozone and patrice Is one of the three greatest offerings Of the ride bank in 2003 and scored it 96 to 100 Points potentially perfect wine chances Robinson on the other hand Wrote about it ridiculous wine more Reminiscent of a late half Zinfander than red bordeaux and gave it 12 points on the 20 point scale which Means that it was a Faulty or unbalanced wine interestingly Raul parker later settled on 96 points For this wine while jensen robinson Never reviewed it again But her colleague julia harding gave it 15.5 points at a later tasting Subjectivity always plays a role when Things that are difficult to measure are Measured by humans think of the scores That are given to figure skaters At the olympics or the online ratings For hotel rooms And grades in school for the essay that You’ve written this does not mean that We shouldn’t rate those things but Rather that we should take those scores With a grain of salt Does it really matter if you like a wine Whether it was scored 85 90 or 95 points on robertparker.com the Explanation of the scoring system Actually ends with this paragraph As a final note scores do not reveal the

Important facts about a wine The written commentary that accompanies The rating is a better source of Information regarding the wine’s style And personality Its relative quality vis-a-vis its peers And its value And aging potential than any score could Ever Indicate i agree scores are useful but They are certainly not the only factor When it comes to the quality Of the wine i would recommend rating Once yourself and then comparing those Scores to wine critics if you agree with Them Then follow their advice next time but Also look back at your scores when you Re-taste the wine In order to see how reliable your Assessment of quality was So thank you for watching if you liked This video then please like it down here Subscribe to my channel and turn on the Notification bell my question of the day Is What do you think about scores do you Use scores do you Not use scores do you like scores or do You hate scores please comment down Below i want to see All of your beautiful comments i hope i See you guys again soon Until then stay thirsty