From a mere NewsLetter to the Magazine that is Today.
Wine Spectator was founded in San Diego (USA) in 1976 by Bob Morrisey. After three years it was bought by its current owner Marvin R. Shanken, who transformed what was a California-focused newsletter into a glossy consumer magazine covering the entire wine world. It is estimated that in its first year of activity under Marvin's "baton" its critics tasted around 1,400 wines.

The World's Leading Authority on Wine?
Wine Spectator claims the title of "World's Leading Authority on Wine" based on its print magazine, which has an impressive 3 million readers worldwide. It is true that its annual ranking is perhaps the most influential in terms of price and interest in the entire wine world. In addition, its website has an impressive reach. In 2008 it was voted by the "luxury institute" as the No.1 publication for wealthy readers, both privately and in business.

How Wine Spectator tastes wines
The magazine's critics evaluate more than 15,000 wines every year in blind tastings. Each issue of the magazine contains the results of around 400 to 1000 wine tastings with their notes and recommendations to the reader.

Most of the wines tasted are sent in by the producers, but in addition to these submissions, thousands of dollars are spent every year on tasting wines that are not submitted.

Tastings are held either at Wine Spectator's offices or at independent venues in Europe's main wine regions, where each editor is responsible for the same region each year in order to increase their expertise in that region.

The wines are always tasted blind by the editor in charge of each region, although he or she may be assisted by other editors in evaluating the wines, although the editor in charge of each region always has the final say on the final score.

How to interpret the Wine Evaluation and the 100-Point Scale
The scores are based on the potential quality of the wines when they reach their peak. For aged wines, an interval of years is suggested for drinking the wine.

Although all tastings are blind, the critic may add a few notes after the wine has been "revealed" but the score is never changed. Price is NOT taken into account in your score, although notes can be edited to include some comment on price and value after the scores have been awarded.

Wine Spectator is considered to be the driving force behind the 100-point wine scale, which is actually a scale between 50 and 100 points (based on the North American education system). So this magazine uses this scale. The wines
95-100 "Classic" a great wine.
90-94 Out of the Ordinary: A wine of superior style and character
85-89 Very Good: A wine with special qualities
80-84 Good: A solid, well-made wine.
75-79 Mediocre: A drinkable wine that may contain some flaws50-74 Not Recommended.

On WineSearcher.com, around 50 per cent of the wines rated by Wine Spectator score between 87 and 91 points, with an average of 88.5 points. The lowest scoring wine has 60 points and the highest 100.

Special Honours!
Every issue Wine Spectator awards some special distinctions to its wines, such as Highly Recommended wines, which are the most impressive wines in the issue (including the best scores and wines that combine good scores, price and availability), Collectables, and Good buys.
In addition, the Wine Spectator TOP 100 Wines of the Year is published once a year. This TOP has great relevance in terms of demand and price for each of the wines that appear in this TOP (especially the first 10).
Top 10 Wines of 2022 | Wine Spectator's Top 100

World Top Wines recommendation on Wine SpectatorThis is one of the essential publications to take into account when it comes to investment, as its TOP 100 have a huge impact on the world of wine due to the enormous interest they generate.

We recommend analysing Wine Spectator's scores because they are always blind and therefore less prone to bias.

Scores of 97 or above are very rare nowadays, so always be on the lookout when you find a score of this calibre. The wine will certainly be worth it.

The highest score for a non-fortified Portuguese wine was 98 points for Pintas 2011.

Respect for copyright
World Top Wines has a valid Subscription to WineSpectator, which gives it permission to use the tasting notes and scores to promote its wines. We fully respect the tasting notes and never alter them.
For more information visit https://www.winespectator.com