Get 20 Point Wine Scoring Sheet

In a nutshell, the 100-point wine rating scale is a “grading” process that attempts to help consumers quantify and benchmark a wine's quality against other wines. Think of it like the grading system from when you were in school: Anything from 90-100 is an A, anything from 80-89 is a B, and so on.

95-100 Classic: a great wine. 90-94 Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style. 85-89 Very good: a wine with special qualities. 80-84 Good: a solid, well-made wine.

Wines rated 89 and above (8 or 9 out of 10 on the simplified scale) are very good to great, and any wine rated 96 or above (or a perfect 10) will be exceptional or outstanding for its particular type.

Any wine rated 90 to 94 points Wine Spectator defines as “Outstanding: A wine of superior character and style.” 95 to 100 points means the wine is “Classic: a great wine.” Critics will say that wines at this level often offer beautiful expressions that are specific to that wine varietal.

20 Point system The common way of judging wine at wine shows was for each of three judges to give the wines scores out of 20 and the points are added up for a score out of (a theoretical) 60. Medals are then awarded the basis of 55.5 and over get a gold, 51-55 get silver and 46.5-50.5 get a bronze medal.

20 Point system The common way of judging wine at wine shows was for each of three judges to give the wines scores out of 20 and the points are added up for a score out of (a theoretical) 60. Medals are then awarded the basis of 55.5 and over get a gold, 51-55 get silver and 46.5-50.5 get a bronze medal.

100-Point Scale ScoreExplanation95–100Classic: a great wine90–94Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style85–89Very good: a wine with special qualities80–84Good: a solid, well-made wine2 more rows

Wine Enthusiast's 100-point wine-scoring scale: 98–100 – Classic. 94–97 – Superb. 90–93 – Excellent. 87–89 – Very good.