How
we Rate and Grade Wine at 10 Dollar Wine
We have received quite a few emails asking us
how we actually grade our wines and what your actual scale
really is. Many want to know why we don't use the standard
100 point scale and provide reviews like.
"91 - Flavors of berry, coffee and
leather with a deep red
color. Excellent nose and wonderful finish, etc."
Now with no disrespect to the Folks at Wine
Spectator or Wine Enthusiast Magazines but there are more then
enough reviews like that. We simply did not want another
site spewing out more four line reviews that don't really mean
much to the average Joe or Jane wine drinker. So we
created our own method of judging wine that was based on the
fact that on most nights when we open a bottle to review we
don't drink an ounce and move on to the next one, HECK NO we
kill the bottle and drink the wine with the intent to taste,
feel and enjoy it as a normal part of our day.
This is how most people drink wine. We
also wanted to make allowances for the fact that we are
reviewing inexpensive wines and some are 3 dollars a bottle,
some are 6 dollars a bottle and some are a full 10 dollars a
bottle (actually we admit any bottle we can buy for 10.99 or
less) and that each of these price points warranted a different
standard to at least some degree.
Think of this as a "best in class"
mentality. When Car and Driver reviews a Kia Optima or
Pontiac Grand Prix they don't compare them to Chevy Corvettes or
BMW's they compare them to other cars in their class. In
the same way we may find two wines to be almost of the same
quality but if one is 6 dollars it may be rated "Highest
Recommended" while the other that is about the same and is
9.99 a bottle would only get "Highly Recommended"
simply because if you can get a very similar and just as good
wine for less then the less expensive should be more highly
rated. Here are the ratings our wines can revive and what
they mean.
-
Highest Recommendation
- For a wine to receive this rating it must be best in its type (Chianti,
Zinfandel, Etc) and at its price point. Wines we rate this high we
feel would still be a good value and worth buying if they were 60-70% higher
in price. For instance a 10 dollar wine with this recommendation would
still be a good buy at 16-17 dollars a bottle.
-
Highly Recommended -
Wines that are highly recommended are exceptional wines for their price
point. Generally we feel such wines would still be a good buy at a
20-30% higher price. They are simply a great wine that we would
recommend not only for the occasional buy but to keep on hand in your wine
rack in quantity to enjoy often.
-
Recommended
- Wines in this category are great wines to enjoy often and worth buying and
probably would still be worth buying if they cost a bit more. They are
above average for their price point. They would be a wine you might
choose to keep a bottle or two around the house in your wine rack when ever
you are stocking up.
-
Good -
Good wines are solid performers in their class. They are like the base
model of a decent car. We don't necessarily recommend them but we
would drink them and don't mind picking up a bottle to drink from time to
time. The only issue with them is they are just not exceptional enough
to choose above many other bottles in their class.
-
Acceptable
- These wines are just that, "OK" drinkable and perhaps at half
their price they would move into the good category. They are nothing that
tastes "bad" they just don't stand up against similar wines in
their class.
-
Not Recommended
- Now we don't meet many wines we would refuse to drink and just because we
say "Not Recommended" does not mean the wine is undrinkable just
that there would always be a better wine at the same price available in any
store so there would just not be any reason to choose one of these wines.
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