Wine ratings are a strange animal. We give them unquestioning power over our wallet. We let them guide our imbibing experience. They embolden our wine knowledge.
But do they really matter?
Wineries, winemakers, and retailers think so. That’s why you see all those shelf talkers. They boast of high scores and awards that a wine has received. They lavish praise on the skill of the vintner to tease out the beverage’s captivating aromas and delicious tastes.
Let’s put these things in perspective.
What Wine Ratings Tell You About a Place
You may see a wine described by its typicity, i.e., how accurately a wine reflects its origins and grape variety. You can easily test the concept for yourself by doing a tasting of a varietal wine.
For example, if you drink a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc alongside one from France’s Loire Valley, you’ll note striking differences. You won’t need a lengthy wine description to help you identify the grassy, heady aromas of the former compared to the citrus aromas of lime and grapefruit for the latter.
The two different styles give you a clear idea of the effects of climate at the base level.
You can notice these differences with many of the so-called international varietals. Wines from cold climates have other aromas and tastes than ones from warmer areas.
That’s why wine ratings specify where the bottle is from to give you a heads-up about what’s in your glass.
Marketing to Different Wine Buyers
Let’s look at wine ratings from the marketing perspective for more insights. A 2008 study by the wine retailer Constellation analyzed sales data to determine six different types of wine buyers.
The Overwhelmed Buyer has hard time getting past the number of choices. They feel intimidated just at the thought of buying a bottle. They like wine and often find themselves choosing a wine based on its label. That’s one reason why brands such as Barefoot and Yellow Tail have done so well.
The Savvy Shopper is always on the lookout for a deal. They will bargain shop to get the best prices. The Satisfied Sipper knows what they like and doesn’t deviate far from the course. Big producers like Constellation and E&J Gallo bottle several brands with mass-market offerings.
The big producers also find consumers who represent the Traditionalists. These individuals respect the well-known bottles and define brand loyalty. The Image Seeker has enough knowledge to be dangerous, which they supplement with research on wine ratings.
Finally, Wine Enthusiasts know their stuff. These individuals take extra steps to build on their knowledge with courses, books, and webinars. Wine ratings make a difference to them, but they also know how to read between the lines.
As you can see, there are many facets to wine marketing that target varying comfort and knowledge levels.
What It Means to Taste Wine
It may come but wine critics can’t tell you what you’ll like. Only you can decide it for yourself.
The fact remains that a lot more goes on in the enjoyment of wine than what’s in your glass. It boils down to genetics. Let’s consider what physiology has to tell us about taste.
People have only three genes that determine how they perceive sweet and unami flavors. There are 25 for bitter.
About 20 percent of people are what science calls super-tasters with a lower threshold for detecting bitterness.
Several genes code for different aromas. That means you may taste something that another cannot.
A wine critic can speak to the technical aspects of the wine and winemaking. They can also talk about a wine’s complexity. That’s because they experience it differently than the average Joe.
A 2016 study looked at the physical variations in Master Sommeliers’ brains versus non-experts using fMRI. It turns out that challenging their sense of smell resulted in structural differences between the two groups.
Because professionals use smell so often, their brains have responded by creating more neural pathways. If you find wine intimidating because you can’t experience what they can, there’s a good reason for it.
Therefore, those wine ratings are reflecting their understanding of it and not necessarily what anyone else might notice.
Final Thoughts About Wine Ratings
We all experience wine differently because our hardwiring varies. Wine ratings capture what someone else detects in their glass. They have honed their sense of smell and trained their brains.
Perhaps, American wine dealer and writer Alexis Lichine summed it up best when he said, “The best way to learn about wine is in the drinking.”
Photo by Laura Peruchi on Unsplash