Wine & Spirits Rating System

All wine evaluations are conducted under controlled, blind conditions.  The tastings are a two-step process. First, all wines are tasted by screening panels composed of retailers, sommeliers, winemakers and other wine professionals. The goal is to draw on a broad universe of tasters to decide which wines are worth recommending, and to avoid the prejudices any one critic might exercise, consciously or not, which might prevent certain styles or classes of wine from being considered.  The wines recommended by our screening panels (generally between 20 and 30 percent of those originally assessed) are then presented at a later date to a Wine & Spirits critic, who scores each wine and writes the review.  The critic's ratings are based on how well a wine performs within its category as labeled (varietally or regionally).

95-100.  Superlative, rare finds
90-94.  Exceptional examples of their type
86-89.  Highly recommended
80-85.  Recommended as good examples of their variety or region