James Suckling was born on 29 September 1958 and graduated in journalism from the University of Wisconsin in 1980. It was through his father's influence that his interest in the world of wine began. In 1981, he joined Wine Spectator (at the time a local magazine with only 800 subscribers) and after the magazine's strong growth, he was relocated to San Francisco in 1982.

In 1983, Suckling began blind tasting Bordeaux wines and visited Europe for the first time in 1984. It was in 1985, with the magazine's growth, that he established Wine Spectator's European office and became responsible for criticising wines from Bordeaux, Italy and Port.

James Suckling: The world's leading Port expert?

In 1990, he wrote his book on Port, "Vintage Port: The Wine Spectator's Ultimate Guide for Consumers, Collectors, and Investors". He is still considered one of the greatest critics of Port today. The Ports that Suckling gave 100 points when he was at Wine Spectator were: Fonseca Vintage 1948, 1977 and 1994, Dow's 2007, Quinta do Noval Nacional 1994 and Taylor's Vintage 1994.

From the Rumour of its Reform to its New Project

Leaving in June 2010, James spent a total of almost 30 years as Senior Editor and Director of Wine Spectator's European office. During this time he tasted an average of 4,000 wines a year, half of them Italian. When he left the magazine, Forbes labelled him "one of the most influential wine critics". It was rumoured at the time that he was retiring, but nothing could be further from the truth.

In October of that same year, James launched JamesSuckling.com, a website he wanted to communicate wine in a more modern way and to continue his career as one of the world's most influential critics. Today he has 22 employees and he and his team taste around 25,000 wines a year.

How James Suckling Tastes and Evaluates Wine

In young wines, Suckling looks for the pleasure they give, as well as their potential to evolve in the bottle. When tasting more mature wines, he puts more emphasis on the pleasure the wine currently gives.

What Suckling and his team look for in a great wine:

“It usually starts with the nose, the aromas of the wine. But for me, this aspect is less important. I emphasise what I taste in the mouth. Whether I find the concentration of the fruit, the tannins, the alcohol and the acidity. The most revealing element is the persistence of the flavour in the mouth, the so-called "aftertaste". But one thing to bear in mind is that wine is like a person. You have to judge it by the emotion it gives you, not something purely scientific”

On JamesSuckling.com, the author says that since the start of his career, he estimates that he has probably tried around 225,000 wines. On the website you can find more than 120,000 wine ratings at the moment..

Suckling's interpretation of the 100-point scale

James Suckling uses a 100-point scale to rate a wine. He and his team taste the wines locally at the producers in a NON-blind way, but when they do more extensive tastings in their offices they do so in a "blind" way. Suckling has his own interpretation of the 100-point scale, which means that his scores vary less than those of other critics.

Less than 88 points: Not recommended for purchase (lower scores are rarely published)
88 to 90 points - Recommended purchase, but with caution.
90-94 Points: Outstanding (A) A wine you want to drink a glass of and which is a good buy.
95-99 Points: "Must Buy" A wine you want to drink the whole bottle of.
100 Points: A perfect wine.
 
World Top Wines recommendation on James Suckling

He's the critic to look out for when you're interested in wines from recent vintages in the New World, such as Chile, Argentina or New Zealand for their breadth and coverage of this part of the world, or Port wines for their speciality.

Due to this critic's very specific use of the scale, it's normal for his average scores to be 2-3 points higher than Robert Parker or Wine Spectator, particularly for Bordeaux wines. We therefore recommend "using" this critic's scores, but with caution.

Respect for copyright

World Top Wines has a valid "Business Subscription" from jamessuckling.com, which gives it legitimate permission to use official tasting notes, scores and seals to promote its wines. When a wine is scored several times, we favour the use of the most recent review.

For more information visit https://www.jamessuckling.com/