Guide
How to read wine scores and a Bordeaux vintage report
What 92 means, why a barrel score comes as a range, and what to look for in a report before the number.
The short answer
A score is one critic’s judgment of one wine at one tasting, on that critic’s own scale. On the 100-point scales, which really start at 50, 90 means outstanding. A range such as 90 to 94 is a barrel score; the single number comes after bottling.
A 100-point scale that starts at 50
It is really a 50-point scale. Robert Parker, who founded The Wine Advocate in 1978, built his on a range from 50 to 100, and Wine Spectator cuts the same range a little differently:
| Robert Parker | His word | Wine Spectator | Its word |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96 to 100 | Extraordinary | 95 to 100 | Classic: a great wine |
| 90 to 95 | Outstanding | 90 to 94 | Outstanding |
| 80 to 89 | Barely above average to very good | 85 to 89 | Very good |
| 70 to 79 | Average | 80 to 84 | Good |
| 60 to 69 | Below average | 75 to 79 | Mediocre |
| 50 to 59 | Unacceptable | 50 to 74 | Not recommended |
The 2 scales agree on 90 as the line for outstanding, and their bands differ by a point or 2. A 95 in one place and a 95 in another are 2 critics saying related things, not the same thing.
Out of 20, 15 is average
Jancis Robinson and her team score out of 20. On that scale 15 is average, a perfectly nice drink with no faults and not much excitement. Then 16 is distinguished, 17 superior, 18 a cut above superior, 19 a humdinger, and 20 truly exceptional. A + or even ++ marks a wine expected to improve, and a minus sign a drawback.
Her own page gives no conversion to 100 points. A 17 is read on its own scale.
A range means the wine is unfinished
In April, at the en primeur tastings where the new vintage is first shown, critics taste it from barrel samples. Those scores are published as ranges. At Wine Spectator a range such as 90 to 94 is a preliminary score, usually from a barrel tasting, and since March 2008 the magazine has used 4-point spreads for them. The finished wine gets a single number once it has been bottled and tasted again.
The range is the critic telling you the wine is not finished. Read the top of it as a possibility, not a result.
A number is one palate
A publication’s Bordeaux score is usually one person’s palate. The Bordeaux voice of The Wine Advocate was Robert Parker’s, then Neal Martin’s. In November 2017 Martin left for Vinous, Antonio Galloni’s publication, and covered Bordeaux there; that month Lisa Perrotti-Brown was named the Bordeaux reviewer at The Wine Advocate. She left The Wine Advocate in December 2021, and William Kelley, its editor in chief from 2024, covers Bordeaux there.
Other names appear on shelf talkers, each on its own scale. Vinous, Decanter, James Suckling, and Jeb Dunnuck score out of 100; Jancis Robinson scores out of 20.
Knowing whose palate stands behind a number matters more than the number.
Start with the weather
A good vintage report says what the season did, when, and to which grape: frost in April, mildew in June, heat in August, rain before the Cabernet was picked. Then it says where the damage fell, bank by bank and commune by commune, and how big the crop was.
Gavin Quinney’s 2025 weather and crop report for Jancis Robinson is a model of the form. It sets the heat against 2003 and 2022, and it gives the yield at 33.6 hectoliters a hectare, for the smallest crop since 1991. Then it breaks the losses down by appellation, against the 20-year average:
In
Where to go next
Sources: Cornell Hospitality Report, An Analysis of Bordeaux Wine Ratings, 1970 to 2005 (June 2008) · Wine Spectator, scoring scale · Jancis Robinson, how we score · The Drinks Business, Perrotti-Brown named Bordeaux reviewer at The Wine Advocate (November 28, 2017) · The Drinks Business, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW to leave The Wine Advocate (December 1, 2021) · Robert Parker Wine Advocate, evolution of The Wine Advocate editorial team (March 12, 2024) · Jancis Robinson, Bordeaux 2025 weather and crop report