So Long 100 Points: The 4 Point Wine Ratings Scale

Are you sick of the tyranny of the 100 point scale lording over the fate of your wine(s)? Tired of the "psychological baggage from school" (as Lewis Perdue puts it) that comes along with it. "Gee, Jimmy, that 82 you got on that term paper is not a laudable B- but rather dooms you to gathering dust on a random store shelf while your 90-point neighbors become the belles of the ball."

Perdue, in his post "Rating The Rating Systems – The One Place Where Words Can Actually Work", suggests an alternative: the four-point scale. No, not scoring a wine numerically 1, 2, 3, or 4. But rather a "semantic scale involving common consumer actions." Like this:

  • I would serve this for a special occasion.
  • I would buy this again
  • I would not buy this again.
  • I would tell friends not to buy this.

His all-caps conclusion? "ACTIONABLE DATA TRUMPS EXPERT RATINGS FOR BUYING."

Do you find this approach to rating wines more in line with what you want to know about a wine before you buy it? Or do you need the points?

Check out Grape Collective Contributing Writer Michael Woodsmall's take on the Death of the 100 Point System.