A wine critic is someone who personally reviews wine and classifies it either by a numerical ranking, a taste note, or an opinion. Their reviews, often found in trade publications, journals, books, magazines, online, or at sales events for new wine, are frequently used by consumers in the initial process of determining whether or not to purchase wine. The reviews are typically written by the wine critics themselves, but they may also be written by wine experts. The consumer reads what is provided and then makes a determination as to whether or not they think the wine is worth purchasing based on their personal rating. There are several different types of wine critics.
One type of wine critic is called a blind taster. These people drink the wines before they are tasted by the public. They do not have any knowledge of the type or brand of wine. The tasters are then tested on the subjectiveness of their tasting notes and sometimes even on their color perception skills. Blind tasters are a valuable tool used by wine makers to determine how wines are liked by the general public.
Another type of wine critic is the one who participates in blind tastings. This person is paired with the same wines that the blind tasters would be and is asked to rank them based on their personal preference. Critics who participate in these tasting sessions are often from prestigious wine organizations.
The most respected and influential wine critic in the United States is Dr. James Freeman, who serves as the wine critic for Consumer Reports magazine. He is widely considered one of America’s top wine critics. While he is not actually a wine critic by choice, his opinions and ratings are widely sought after by consumers when deciding whether they like or dislike a certain wine. In his opinion, it is better to leave the taste of the wine to the experts than to trust an untrained person.
A wine critic may also belong to a wine club, where members vote on the wine scores and give them a star rating. The members of the clubs are all wine enthusiasts, professionals, and professionals in their own right. Each wine club has a different list of wines that they rate, but usually from a similar region or style of wine. The actual decisions made by the members of the clubs are quite fascinating to watch and interesting reading in their own rights.
One important part of the job of a wine critic is reviewing tasting notes and reviewing the blind tasting, which usually involves the taster keeping a bottle of the wine for a period of time and then tasting the wine after it has been opened. In his review, the wine critic will explain what he or she noticed about the wine through the tasting notes and then give his or her opinion about it. Tasting notes are subjective and the rating systems that some critics use don’t really work. Sometimes, they will rate a wine four points because they liked the way it smells or tastes, but the rating system uses a point system with no reference to the actual smell or taste. It is important for consumers to be aware of the fact that there are many different opinions about the same wine pairings.
Many wine magazines will have their own wine critics, but wine reviews are not an objective fact. Some magazines will assign wine scores based on the opinions of certain wine magazine’s editors, while other publications will base their wine scores on independent polls of consumers. Regardless, of who is rating the wines, all of the scores are given based on the actual taste of the wine, and are therefore not true or false answers in any way.
The wine industry is highly secretive about how they determine their wine scores, but it is generally believed that they go by a simple 100-point scale. There are several possible reasons for this, including how wine is tasted by various demographics and where and how the tasters are located. Perhaps the most common reason is that the majority of wine tasters live in big cities where the smells and flavors of the wines can be discerned easily. In small towns where wine is not as popular, the score is figured differently.