Our rating system is designed to be, well, more meaningful than the others. We’re still using a 100 point scale, somewhat begrudgingly, because “nine thumbs up” or “glass two-thirds full” doesn’t really translate in today’s wine world. Not that we want to be in the wine world. We want wine translated into the real world. We think you want that too.
Our scores are a composite that factors in five different categories, about which we are committed to being both diligent and transparent. These categories reflect quite a bit of lay-research about what modern wine drinkers actually care about. The categories are:
1. Quality-Price Ratio (QPR)
2. Scarcity
3. Sustainability
4. Crowd Score
5. Overall
Below, we’ll explain each of the five categories, why they matter, how they’re scored, and how the composite score is eventually produced.
QPR Rating
“QPR” is a fairly common acronym that stands for “Quality-Price Ratio” and essentially is intended to indicate if this wine is a good deal. So, for example, a bottle of Screaming Eagle, which costs a few thousand dollars, is going to get hard core dinged in this category because, well, you can get freaking awesome Napa Cab (same varietal, same region, same style) for five percent the cost of a bottle of this absurdly overpriced rocket juice.
In producing a QPR score, we factor in other wines from that region that are the same varietal and style. Style does matter; we won’t compare un-oaked Chardonnay to oaky ones, and we won’t compare wine from the Medoc to wines from Oakville. In the end, QPR scores seek to answer the question “Is this wine priced reasonably for what it is.” Think of it as a drinker on a budget’s cost-benefit analysis.
Here is the actual scale we use:
0-50 = The wine is egregiously overpriced for what it is. There is wine out there that is just as good for a fraction of the cost. (See also: Screaming Eagle, Petrus, etc. etc.)
51-60 = The wine is grossly overpriced for what it is, no matter how much we like it.
61-70 = Almost all of the wine available in this varietal and style from this region at this price is better than this wine.
71-80 = Most of the wine available in this varietal and style from this region at this price is as good if not better than this wine.
81-85 = There may be better wine available in this style and varietal from this region for the same price, but this stuff is reasonably priced. Pour us another glass!
86-90 = This wine costs what it should cost, based on comparable wines on the market, or may even be slightly underpriced. The quality is a good match for the price point.
91-94 = This wine is underpriced and over-delivers at this price point in terms of varietal, region, quality, and style.
95-97 = This wine is severely underpriced; this is among the best wines available at this price point in terms of varietal, region, quality, and style.
98-100 = This wine is ridiculously underpriced; this is one of the best few wines available at this price point in terms of varietal, region, quality, and style.
Scarcity Rating
Things are worth more when there are less of them. That’s basic economics. So why two bottles of wine of comparable quality cost the same amount of money when there were five thousand cases produced of one and fifty thousand of the other is beyond us. The only thing we can figure out is that the consumer doesn’t usually know how much wine was actually produced, so it’s difficult to be discerning. Well, hell, we can help with that!
Diamonds are expensive because they’re rare. So are classic cars. So is excellent foodservice. Wine should work similarly. So when we rate wine, we require producers to tell us how much of it they made. Then we use the scale below to rate the wine. It’s that easy.
50-79 = The wine is ubiquitous, more than 50,001 cases produced
80 = Under 50,000 cases produced
81 = Under 40,000 cases produced
82 = Under 35,000 cases produced
83 = Under 30,000 cases produced
84 = Under 25,000 cases produced
85 = Under 20,000 cases produced
86 = Under 17,500 cases produced
87 = Under 15,000 cases produced
88 = Under 12,500 cases produced
89 = Under 10,000 cases produced
90 = Under 7,500 cases produced
91 = Not so easy to find, under 5,000 cases produced
92 = Not so easy to find, under 4,000 cases produced
93 = Hard to find, under 3,000 cases produced
94 = Hard to find, under 2,000 cases produced
95 = Hard to find, under 1,500 cases produced
96 = Very hard to find, under 1,000 cases produced
97 = Very hard to find, under 750 cases produced
98 = Very hard to find, under 500 cases produced
99 = Nearly impossible to find, under 250 cases produced
100 = Nearly impossible to find, under 100 cases produced.
Sustainability Rating
This category seeks to take into consideration the many things that a winery may or may not do that are going to have an impact in the world. This includes things like being biodynamic, certified organic, and other eco-friendly considerations. The idea is to determine whether this business does what it can to leave a positive mark on the world, or if instead the concentration is upon making money over all else. Third party verification is expensive. So are solar panels. We think that today’s consumers value these things and will reward businesses that care for the world in which they operate.
The following key questions and additional information are submitted by the winery. The answers are synthesized and a score assigned on a case-by-case basis. An attempt is made to offer the most holistic examination of the winery’s practices possible. A winery’s sustainability score may change year-to-year, just as their practices might.
Key Questions:
Does the winery have independent third-party certification from a reputable organization such as Napa Green? If yes, what is the name of the organization? For how long have you held this certification?
Are all of the vineyards the grapes came from certified organic?
Are all of the vineyards the grapes came from certified biodynamic?
Does the winery recycle all glass, plastic, aluminum?
Does the winery compost and use cover crops?
How much, in percentage, of your operation is powered by solar or wind?
What do you do to maximize energy efficiency?
What do you do to maximize water efficiency?
What do you do to minimize waste?
What else would you like to share about your farming and/or winemaking practices?
What percentage of your employees receive healthcare from your winery?
Do you offer dental benefits to your employees?
Are your wages competitive in your market?
What else would you like to share about the treatment of your employees?
Does your winery donate any money or in-kind donations to charity?
What is the approximate value of the donations made annually, including money, products, time, etc. by your winery to charitable causes?
Sure, we recognize that people can just lie to us about all of this stuff, though some of it such as third-party certification, certified organic, etc. we can (and do) verify. The bottom line is, we want wineries to be thinking about these things, and doing them, and we think modern wine drinkers do as well.
Crowd Rating
For this category, rather than just being yet one more old white man (yawn) who tells you what he likes to have in his mouth, we’re asking the multitudes. To do this, we tap into Vivino, which has millions of users worldwide and a database of millions of wines, to see what people are saying about the wine. Below is the scale we use to offer this rating. Note: The score is taken at the time that we review, and will not be changed later on to reflect changes in Vivino star ratings.
60 = 1.0 stars
61 = 1.1 stars
62 = 1.2 stars
63 = 1.3 stars
64 = 1.4 stars
65 = 1.5 stars
66 = 1.6 stars
67 = 1.7 stars
68 = 1.8 stars
69 = 1.9 stars
70 = 2.0 stars
71 = 2.1 stars
72 = 2.2 stars
73 = 2.3 stars
74 = 2.4 stars
75 = 2.5 stars
76 = 2.6 stars
77 = 2.7 stars
78 = 2.8 stars
79 = 2.9 stars
80 = 3.0 stars
81 = 3.1 stars
82 = 3.2 stars
83 = 3.3 stars
84 = 3.4 stars
85 = 3.5 stars
86 = 3.6 stars
87 = 3.7 stars
88 = 3.8 stars
89 = 3.9 stars
90 = 4.0 stars
91 = 4.1 stars
92 = 4.2 stars
93 = 4.3 stars
94 = 4.4 stars
95 = 4.5 stars
96 = 4.6 stars
97 = 4.7 stars
98 = 4.8 stars
99 = 4.9 stars
100 = 5.0 stars
Overall
This has to do with, well, everything. It will include a first-blush reaction from our taster. Do we even like this wine? Do we effing love it? But it will go on to include myriad other factors as well, that could include anything from how well the wine pairs with food to the wine being made from an underappreciated or difficult to find varietal to the grapes being sourced from a really cool vineyard or appellation to the winemaker being extremely charitable to the owner of the winery being a complete douche canoe (which would, just to be clear, hurt their score in this category).
This category is a chance for us to include every last little detail we know about the wine, the winemaker, the vineyards and the winery, and to tip the scale a bit in one direction or another based on our insider knowledge. No matter how much we love or hate a wine/winemaker/winery, it’s still only 20% of the scale. You could think of this 20% of what we do as all most reviewers ever do if you want to, but even then we could argue that this goes beyond “Traces of sugarplums and graphite with a bouquet of Cherry Coke” to encompass something more.
Composite
In the end, the scores will be share individually, but also averaged to indicate a single Balthazar score. Scores will be rounded, e.g. 90.49 = 90, 90.50 = 91. Below is a sample score. The composite is 92.4, so the score is a 92.
Producer Name and Vintage – 92 Points
QPR: 95
Scarcity: 97
Sustainability/Eco-Friendly: 91
Crowd Scoring: 87
Overall: 92
Balthazar Wine Review 