Tasting Notes and Scores

Quality Score

The scale we use for the scores in our tasting notes is based on a 100 point system, referring leading wine commentators. In the absence of relevant scores, we will use our own score system. The scale is used to indicate quality and the score itself refers to a specific quality on this scale. It gives an absolute indication, and not a relative one, so that it can be used to compare different growths, different vintages and different appellations. The tasting comment gives a description of the taste. This description supplements the information given by the score to help you decide which wine suits your personal taste best, especially when you hesitate between two wines with the same score.

Scores lower than 50/100
These scores indicate wines with oenological deficiencies and/or distinctly unpleasant wines.

Scores between 70 and 84/100
Scores given to insignificant wines which mainly leave you with a feeling of dissatisfaction.

Scores between 85 and 86-87/100 Good Wines.
When a wine reaches a score of 85/87, it has risen above the anonymous, mass produced wines. For lesser growths, wines with such scores are very desirable. For a great growth, it means that the wine is not at its best, which can be due to natural causes (weak or medium vintages) and/or to human factors (a certain lack of care in the work, whether in the vineyards or in the winery).

Scores between 87 and 89/100 Very Good Wines.
Wines in this range have a well-defined character because of their good structure, pleasant taste, elegance and good balance. They suit consumers with high standards and can be kept up to 5 or 10 years after their year of birth.

Scores between 90 and 95/100  Excellent Wines.
These scores are attributed to wines which are powerful and refined at the same time, offering complexity and a deep taste. They are certainly worth keeping at least 10 years in the bottle so as to enjoy the most voluptuous sensations they can develop. Yet, remembering that only good young wines will result in good old wines, I think you should not feel bad about trying them at an earlier age. On the contrary, if you do so, you will have the joy to discover the variety of charms these wines offer at different ages.

Scores between 96 and 100/100 Exceptional Wines.
They are powerful, complex, rich, subtle, and refined at the same time, with a very specific and original expressiveness (which constitutes their pedigree) and they are endowed with an immensely long ageing potential (20 to 50 years and more). These rare wines will impress several generations of wine lovers and they establish the reference points in the world heritage of wine tastes.

We perhaps contribute to our scoring system by combining particularlt for daily wines the following factors:

The pleasure Score(PS 50 to 100)
This pleasure score has been created especially for the wine enthusiasts who wish to enjoy the wines they buy without delay. It complements the general score indicating the likely quality and enjoyment potential of the wine by the end of its ageing capacity. Bearing in mind that some wines showing great potential are not hugely pleasant to drink when young, the closer the pleasure score to the potential score, the higher the enjoyment will be.

The Cost-Performance Score(CP 50 to 100).
This score complements the general score indicating the cost performance ratio of the wine, which is my speciality as a veteran wine merchant.