The Wine Trade Part II: The 100 Point System is Broken

A definite trend in the wine world is that the majority of wine critics, reviewers, somms, bloggers, or anyone else rating wines by a 100 point system are over-rating wines, relaxing their standards, or just selling out in order to promote themselves.

It may be a coincidence but when 17 out of 25 Sauvignon Blancs reviewed scored 90, I was baffled. Before me was the November 30th, 2016 issue of The Wine Spectator and, as I explored further, it also reviewed 12 Syrahs and a remarkable 11 rated 90 points.

So much for coincidence. In the category of “Other California Reds,” 19 wines were reviewed and 13 were rated 90 points. Not one was an 89.

A few days later, I was tasting under $15 red wines and three of them, when unveiled, came with scores of 90 points on the labels.Wow! And I had all three at 85-86.

The Tilia Malbec has a neck label with 90 points from Robert Parker in bold letters, and the 2010 Vina Cumbrero Rioja wore a Wine Spectator neck label with 90 points highlighted in red.

Finally, the 2014 Garnacha de Fuego had a gold sticker saying Josh Raynolds scored it 90 points in Vinous. Btw, gold stickers are so third grade.

Examining the labels in detail, I saw that Raynolds actually rated the 2015, not the 2014, and the Tilia label explained that the 90 points were somehow associated with the “last 4 vintages.”

If nothing else these discrepancies confirmed that the 90+ point score is important enough for reinterpreting the truth. As in misleading the consumer through deceptive marketing practices.

Here’s my main point: as a cop-out, compromise, many reviewers are awarding average to very good quality wine a 90 or 91 point score because that is a safe zone that will appease the wine trade.

A 90+ score is something that can be easily converted into promotional PR releases and marketing material. And obviously, will get the reviewer’s names in print.

A score of 89 or lower is unacceptable and largely ignored. Why this is true today is anyone’s guess. My best guess is that this is the age of hype, over-achievers, and personal bests. You are either an A student or not. Winners or losers.

And the online retailers I track daily are the most blatant examples of this fixation on 90+ points. Many have a sort by 90+ points as a category.

For example, Wine.com lists 1,575 “90+ wines under $50.”

But, why is any of this important to wine consumers/shoppers?

Let’s begin with the 100 point system. When the Wine Spectator’s editors break down their ratings, a wine rated 85 to 89 is considered to be a “Very Good Wine with special qualities.”

To this former English teacher, that should identify highly attractive wines. Wines that buyers would be encouraged to check out if it were not for the stigma of “below 90.”

The 100 point system, which was never perfect, is now falling apart and failing. It is failing as a useful consumer guideline.

Wines in the 90-94 point range, explains the Spectator, are “Outstanding, of superior character and style.”

In Parker’s Wine Advocate world, 90-94 points means “An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.”

The 3 reds from my tasting did not fit either description at all.

The 2010 Vina Cumbrero was a great value which to its credit,The Wine Spectator noted.

The new Wine Advocate team, however, is doing its best to water down the point system. To me, a wine that is basically “delicious” is not an outstanding wine of exceptional complexity. Neither is a wine that tastes like shrimp.

But the following two examples are all too typical of the current Wine Advocate team:

90 Points Wine Advocate:

"The forward, fruity and straight-up delicious 2015 Crozes Hermitage Equinoxe offers a forward, medium+ bodied style, as well as sweet, light tannin, lots of plum and strawberry fruits, solid mid-palate depth and no hard edges.”

"The Puig-Parahy 2011 C?tes du Roussillon Georges – a bit more Syrah than usual blended into its Carignan and Grenache – is intriguingly and delightfully scented with Ceylon tea, ripe elderberry and blueberry, accompanied by striking intimations of shrimp shell reduction in its combination of sweet-saline savor and tincture of iodine. A nutty, piquant, and positively vegetal note of Swiss chard adds to the stimulation of a juicy, vivacious, mouthwatering, and remarkably mineral palate presence and finish. Look for this extraordinary value to perform superbly at table through at least 2016. (The 2010 "Georges," incidentally, had taken on a slightly reductive and animal aura when I tasted it from bottle but still exhibited the dynamic on which I commented in issue 195 and all-in-all performed at the lower end of the projection I published there.)" - David Schildknecht, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

While the first 90 point wine is definitely delicious and worth seeking out as a good (not 90 point) wine, the second with its shrimp, iodine, and vegetal note might be best avoided. Especially if you have allergies.

Something is out of whack. And I blame the wine trade for trying to preserve this flawed system by encouraging its use.

As a result, consumers are getting misleading and unreliable information. Many other 90 or 91 point wines which I have tasted are way over-rated, pushed into that bracket for one reason or another.

Conversely, some very good low-priced, great value wines are most likely being ignored because they are rated below 90. And nobody talks about them.

Either way, critics/reviewers/bloggers are not doing their job.