Learn How Wine is Rated
Rating a wine is not for experts alone. This skill can be developed by anyone with enough practice and exposure and it starts with understanding the elements in wine making and rating.
There are basically 4 areas where wines are rated. These are appearance, smell or aroma, taste, and aftertaste. Below is some information on how wines get their scores:
1. 6 star wines are exceptional vintage, so perfect that nothing more can be removed or added to improve it. Only less than 1% of the total worlds production of wine belongs to this category. They possess all the complex characteristics of a classic wine. They aren't usually sold online or elsewhere and tagged as collector's items.
2. 5 star wines are almost perfect because they have extraordinary organoleptic characteristics. These wines have balanced richness, color, and overall harmony so that they produce extraordinary texture, smell, and taste.
3. 4 star wines are 5% of the worlds production and they don't have noticeable flaws and they display high character, finesse, and flavor. These are the types of wine commonly collected today. They are expected to get a higher rating as they age.
4. 3 star wines are what they usually call average wines. They are made from ordinary ingredients but are soundly made. They are the same as 4 star wines in that they don't have noticeable flaws and they have excellent texture and taste.
5. 2 star wines on the other hand are below average. They contain noticeable flaws (ex. Floating particles, unpleasant odor, watery substance, etc) due to extra tannin or acid. However, they can be generally pleasant but lack complexity, depth, or character.
6. 0-1 star wines are usually homemade wines that don't make it to the wine market. These are commonly made from poor quality ingredients and they are noticeably dull. They are flawed, terribly diluted, and imbalanced.
Wine tasting and ratings are usually done within large groups. This group of people rate unlabelled wines without considering the brand and cost. Their ratings are compiled to be used in comprehensive analysis to determine the ratings and classes of wines. These are designed to help buyers in choosing the best wine on the market today. Though these ratings can be used by buyers when buying wine, they aren't guidelines that are strictly to be followed. It will still be the buyers call on what to put in their cart when they are shopping.
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How can someone new to wine drinking learn about good wine?
I am new to wine drinking and I would like to learn more about wine. I don’t like the taste of wine in general, it’s only these sweet ones that I like, for instance, and please don’t laugh (Arbor Mist). I’m pretty sure I’m missing out on the whole idea of good wine drinking, but I don’t know how to learn what taste I like other than buying a bunch of different variety of wines and just trying them. For example, I was at a casual restaurant and I was trying to act all sophisicated and ordered a glass of wine. I could tell what kind to save my life, but at any rate, I took a sip of that wine and I almost spit it out. It literally tasted like shoe polish (not that I know what that take like) and like a had licked the bottom of my shoe. If would have been nice to know whether the bartender smelled a Newbie and he just gave me some old wine he wanted to get rid of or whether or not if was just the my ignorance as a new wine drinker. Any ideas?