What's The Score? Wine by the Numbers
 “I had a wonderful “87” wine last night at Paco’s Tacos. Almost as good as the “89” I had for lunch the day before. But it didn’t compare to that “93” I had last week…now that was a honey of a “93”.”
You are unlikely to overhear anything like the previous fictional statements. Why? Because the current blizzard of scores for wines creates information that isn’t really relevant to or useable by most wine drinkers.
People have been using scoring systems for decades when evaluating wine. In a professional setting, for those in the business of making, buying or selling wine, a consistent system can be useful for making decisions. But relying on a critic’s score to pick the wine for tonight’s lasagna is futile, because scores don’t really tell you anything. When you walk into the store to pick up that bottle, seeing rows of bottles with signs touting RP 95 or WS 88 doesn’t tell you how well the wine will go with the pasta/cheese/tomato/ground beef construction you are having for dinner.
Robert Parker (RP), who started the wine rating boondoggle many years ago, and Wine Spectator magazine (WS) are the “big dogs” of wine scoring. Also playing in the field are Wine Enthusiast magazine (WE), Steven Tanzer and Conoisseur’s Guide. All of these evaluation systems are based on a 100 point scale. While the critics also provide a written analysis of each wine, often those are not presented along with the score by retailers or restaurants.
Robert Parker’s system works like this:
90-100 is equivalent to an A in school. It is awarded only for outstanding or great wines. There are not a lot of them, and they tend to be expensive, often as a result of the score.
80-89 is equivalent to a B. This wine, particularly in the 85-89 range, is a very good one.
70-79 is a C, an average wine. These wines are generally pleasant, straightforward wines that lack complexity, character, or depth. Drink, don’t think wines. But now we are in a quandary. Who wants to be average or drink a “C” wine. If I drink it, do I have average, or mediocre taste? Yet these are the wines we should be drinking everyday.
Below 70 is a D or F, a failing wine. These wines would be flawed, unbalanced, or just plain dull -- hardly of interest to the wine lover. So who is drinking this rot gut? We certainly aren’t seeing those little signs touting a “63” on the shelves.
An interesting fact about Parker’s scoring is that he automatically gives every wine a base of 50 points. This raises the question of “why 100 points.” The answer is: to make it understandable and easy to use. Another fact is that Parker awards 10 points for the overall quality level or potential for further evolution and improvement—ageing. That means that any wine above 92 or 93 points should be laid down to age for best drinking results. But with most wine being drunk within a year of purchase (or five minutes of removing it from the bag), the majority of buyers don’t care about these 10 points. To make it fair for those other wines meant to be drunk with the lasagna, we would have to add 8-10 points to every Parker-scored wine that is under 90 points.
And, when we consider the other scorers out there, it is clear that one man’s “96” is another woman’s “88”. So, you have to know the taste and bias of the raters. Another issue is that wines are scored by an individual or a panel tasting many wines at once without food. But most of us are drinking our wine with food, as an integral part of the meal.
A deeper problem is that, particularly in the case of Mr. Parker, winemakers are altering their winemaking style to fit the “Parker profile.” After all, a man who has his nose and palate insured for $1 million can’t be wrong. If enough winemakers do this, the “multinational wine” that is railed against in the film Mondovino, and in many other places, will one day dominate the wine market. It could force those interesting, local wines – the Carmeneres and Aglianicos and Charbonos -- out of the market.
Using the 100-point scale as the measure of wine quality appeals to the wine consumer's insecurities by offering an authoritative voice that proscribes what should be liked, what is safe. The scale becomes a crutch --a poor substitute for developing confidence in one's own taste, preferences, independent judgment and wine knowledge.
So, what can one do? Don’t drink by numbers. Don’t buy into the hype. Go to knowledgeable wine retailers and ask questions. In many stores, there are descriptions of each wine next to the bottle, with suggested food pairings. Explore the wide range of different and unusual wines from around the world, even if you chance not liking something.
Lasagna goes with a wide range of red and white wines, from $6.00 bottles to $40.00+ ones. They’re all “good,” and they will make the lasagna taste even better. And none of them needs a score to express where they rate on a contrived scale.
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Patricia Savoie is a nationally-known wine writer living in New York City. She is completing her second book on wine and will be a regular contributor to this website.
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