Wine scoring: The good, bad, and the ugly.
Wine scoring is probably one of the most interesting but also contentious parts of the wine world and I want to unpack why. 🤔
So here goes.
The Good:
Wine is a dense subject and for a lot of people who are just casual enjoyers of the old vino, it can be an intimidating thing to choose a wine, to know what it might be like, and to determine if their money will be spent well.
Equally intimidating for some people is the need to ask for help. Sometimes as a wine merchant, you have to be aware of peoples sensibilities in regards to shyness or pride when you give advice. In short, a wine score can create a bridge of understanding to the less well informed. Very positive 😊
The Bad: People with platforms hold a lot of responsibility in their hands. Winemaking is a tremendously difficult business with enormous amounts of hard work put into it. Some winemakers don't make money for years, and when they do it's a knife edge business. It's known that winemakers have quite literally gone out of business or been unduly stressed by a bad score. If you have a platform, remember that your score doesn't just reflect a wine, it has ripples that extend deep into people's lives and families.
The Ugly:
Wine scoring doesn't make sense. In a world of more or less complete subjectivity, there are very few universal truths. Certainly when it comes to taste, both literal and aesthetic, there is no universality. Even when commonality is found, say for example agreeing whether a wine is high acidity. Who decides if it's good or bad. I respect the desire to find truth, but ultimately it doesn't exist. Leading to what has been dubbed the 'Parkerisation' of wine. Wine that tries so hard to fit into the brackets defined by one person's subjective idea of what matters, to the detriment of originality and creativity.
Sometimes the most interesting art is the art that challenges preconceptions and challenges us. A wine with character might not be age worthy or even 'high scoring'. But it is there, it's an experience, and it is 100% true to say that in a world of 8 billion, it will appeal to someone.
Experience yes. Judge? Why?