My New Rating System

I changed my rating system from the typical point system used by Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate to a five-star rating system that you probably see on many sites from Amazon to Netflix. It’s something most people using the Internet have seen before. I think it’s simpler to understand and certainly not as granular as the point system. I did have to add half-point values for those many times when I’m waffling. Besides, I didn’t want to emulate eBob. (Robert Parker) And unlike those aforementioned publications, I also give wines a value rating because I think it’s important, especially now, to judge if a wine is worth the money. I’m using a slightly modified version of Robert Dwyer’s Wellesley Wine Press wwpQPR rating system. Modified because he allows for 8 levels and by using 1 to 5 stars in half point increments, I need 9 levels. I also gave a little leeway to what is considered average. If you think that some of the value ratings have changed, they probably did when I went back and re-evaluated all the wines based on this new method. Here’s what the number of stars means in my ratings.

	Rating	Value (wwpQPR)
	Poor – Not at all enjoyable. I would not buy this wine again.	This wine is expensive for what you get. (0 – 0.50)
		(0.51 – 0.95)
	Average – Not bad, but also not exciting. I doubt I would buy again.	The price is comparable for wines of the same quality. (0.96 – 1.04)
		(1.05 – 1.49)
	Good – Depending on the value, I would probably try this wine again.	The price is less than expected for a wine of this quality. (1.50 – 1.99)
		(2.00 – 3.99)
	Excellent – This is a wine I definitely would buy again.	This wine is bargain priced for the quality of the wine. (4.00 – 5.99)
		(6.00 – 7.99)
	Incredible – An exceptional wine worth having a whole case if affordable.	Incredible – This wine is an incredible value. (8.0+)