Since not so many people know what wine rating actually is, although they are familiar with the term, it is good to know that wine rating is actually a score assigned to a certain wine by renowned wine critics, and this score places that particular wine on a certain position as compared to other wines. Just because a wine has a high rating doesn’t mean that everyone will like it. Wine rating is based on a subjective assessment. Sometimes one wine critic decides what the score is, other times there are several wine experts who decide. In any case, there are a number of different scales in use all around the world.

The most common one is the 50 to 100 scale. There are also other similar numeric scales an one can find updated information on this subject in certain magazines about wine. The 50 to 100 scale, also known as the Parker system is often correlated to a scale from F to A. According to this system of wine rating, a bottle of wine is considered good if it gets at least 85 points.

The history of wine literature indicates that wine reviews have always been habitual, but the numeric rating system was patterned in the ‘70s by an American named Robert Parker Jr. A wide variety of other numeric systems have developed on the side. There’s the 0 to 5 rating system and there-s a 0 to 20 rating system, often used with or without half points or stars. The 20 points scale used to be very popular in the U.K. and also in California, back in the’80s.

Nowadays, however, the Parker system is the most frequently used. Outstanding wines get 90 points or above, while excellent wines get between 95 and 100 points. There’s usually four criteria used to judge a wine: appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste. Wines that enter competitions can get a bronze medal, a silver one or a golden medal, with a plus or a minus attached to the medal. Other wines get no medal at all.