SACRAMENTO—This week at the Society of Wine Educators’ annual meeting, participants addressed the question: Do points matter?
Point-based ratings for wines have grown as consumers seek shortcuts to selecting wines in a marketplace with a dizzying array of wine options. It makes sense. Most people are rationally ignorant about wine. They simply want a nice bottle to impress friends or enjoy at home, but they don’t have time to study wine or budgets to experiment. Accordingly, they look to the “experts.”
Experts include wine professionals who taste hundreds of wines and score them on a 100-point scale. Most popular are scores offered by the Wine Spectator and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Not surprisingly, wine retailers like scores too because they help sell wine.
But not everyone is enthusiastic. Many wine educators and wine producers lament the point system because it has some notable pitfalls. Critics warn that point granters are motivated at least in part by profits. That is, they grant high points to companies that will buy advertisements in their publications. Indeed, some winemakers say that publication advertising offices contact them about ad placement shortly before or after issuing high ratings.
In some cases, marketing may indeed be a factor. However, this factor does not render all point systems meaningless. First, the Wine Advocate does not even sell ads. And raters at publications like the Wine Spectator have personal reputations to safeguard, and good ones are unlikely to rate based on profit potential. Their publications may follow up after the fact to make a profit off the ratings, but they are after all in the business to make a profit.
But more importantly, ratings are often done “blind,” with the winemaker/producer not revealed to the wine pro. This is true for the system used by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and for the Wine Spectator. Wine Searcher has a helpful article detailing the blind tasting standards.
Another pitfall of point system is the fact that high ratings can inflate a wine’s price. Once a wine gets a high price, retailers will mark it up to reflect increased demand. As wine lovers, we can all whine about this, but this is just the way supply and demand work in market economies—for every product. Lots of other factors increase demand for wines that are not based on mere quality. That is just the way it is. It is up to consumers to decide whether they think the “inflated” price tag is worth it.
Critics also complain that wine scoring is too subjective. It is indeed subjective, and perhaps that’s the point. If you find a wine pro whose palate is similar to yours, his or her reviews will likely be valuable to you. Of note, wine experts do employ some basic criteria regarding the quality of wine, such as balance—ensuring a wine has a nice integration of favors, acids, and tannins, and that it does not have odd notes or other defects. It is unlikely that a highly rated wine by one of the top wine rating experts will suffer from any such serious defects—and there are plenty wines that do have defects.
Perhaps the most compelling argument against the point system is the fact that experts must taste dozens, if not hundreds, of wines in short time frames. While they do spit—avoiding drunken ratings—surely they get tired palates and judgments may not be as good toward the end as toward the beginning. In that case, some ratings could become less meaningful.
So what is a consumer to do? You can either ignore point systems altogether or use them with an understanding of their limits. If you use points, let them be just one factor among many that you use in selecting wine. But even if points are the only factor you use, they are probably better than simply picking a wine at random or because it has a cute label, which many people do. And remember, many great wines are never submitted into the rating system. Don’t miss out on those simply because they have not been scored.
Bottom line: You are the best judge of your preferences. You can attend some of the many free wine tastings offered in the D.C.-area wine shops to try before you buy. If you don’t have the opportunity for that, find a shop that provides personal service. If you establish a relationship with your local retailer, he or she will come to know your preferences. If not, find another shop—the D.C. Metro area is full of great wine shops with knowledgeable staff!
Originally posted on Examiner.com.