The wine lover: Making sense of wine judging

The point system used in wine judging is often viewed with a sense of suspicion and ambiguity. Are the points that are awarded legitimate, and should we care? Many people see a 92 or 93 from Robert Parker or the Wine Spectator and immediately think the wine must be high end. Typically, this is a fair assumption, but just because a wine receives a high rating doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the right wine for you.
One thing a good rating will certainly do is help a winery sell its wine. If you own a winery and the Wine Spectator just gave your pinot noir a 96, you basically hit the jackpot. Your pinot just doubled in price, and you are selling it by the case instead of by the bottle.
That, I think, is what makes me a little wary of points and rating systems for wine. The power that Robert Parker has is unbelievable. He can literally put a winery on the map with one exceptional rating.
Another consideration is the reason a wine gets a certain rating and what it means. I was once at a tasting in San Francisco and tasted a Spanish Rioja that actually received 100 points! Does this mean it was the perfect wine? Hardly. It was rated that high because the potential it had was scary good.
With an incredible amount of tannins, fruit and fennel, I could understand why people were excited. But this was a wine that wasn’t going to be ready for at least 20 years. The rating came from anticipation. A wine might get rated on what it is now or what it might become. It all depends on who the connoisseur is.
This is the most important part for wine drinkers like you and me. The best thing you can do is to try to find a wine writer who you agree with and who has a palate that is a close match to yours.
Each wine critic has his or her own rating system. Some might put more emphasis on nose and some might put more on taste. Even color gets awarded a set amount of points. If you can find a critic who has a comparable palate, you will end up agreeing with a lot of his or her suggestions.
Cheers!
Austin Twohig is a certified sommelier and partner in The Santa Cruz Experience, which conducts winery tours in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Contact him at au****@th********************.com.