Australian Wine Review Scoring Policy

October 9, 2008

Scoring wines is such a contentious notion, with everyone having an opinion on it one way or another. Some people hate points, deciding that a single number hardly sums up a wine. But I still choose to score wines, as it serves as a personal reference point, something quantifiable about a certain wine, at a certain time, that helps give me something to hold on to.

So my advice is to read the notes first, treating the score as an addendum. I use the Australian Wine Show Scoring System, mainly as this is the format that I have been trained to use. Unlike Judges however , I have the luxury of tasting with the label in front of me, often over a several day period – giving the benefit of context and giving some young wines the time they deserve.

This scale appeared in its original form in ‘The World of Fine Wine’ Magazine (Issue 18, 2007), which was then modified by Steve Webber (De Bortoli) and hence by me (I’m actually the most generous of the lot).

Australian Wine Review Scoring System:

I also translate very roughly into the 100 point system:

19.1-20 = 96-100
18.1-19.0 = 93-95
17.1-18.0 = 90-92
16.1-17.0 = 87-89
15.1-16.0 = 84-86
14.1-15.0 = 80-83
13.1-14.0 = 73-79
12.1-13.0=67-72
11.1-11.8=59-66
10.0-11.0=50-58
Below 10=Failure


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  • About me – Andrew Graham


    At 18, I started working in a small suburban bottleshop, largely to buy cheap beer. It was my first year of university, slogging through physics and chemistry, so a liquor shop seemed like fun. Needless to say, I discovered wine, and my life evolved with a unique dual focus - wine and environment.

    Twenty years later and I spend my days wearing many (wine) hats, mostly as a writer, presenter and marketer.

    I now judge at wine shows around the world, sit on the Australian Wine List of the Year awards panel and was once a Wine Journalism Young Gun (but baby that was years ago).

    Currently, I write features for a variety of publications including National Liquor News, Gourmet Traveller WINE and the RAS, plus I'm a former Lifestyle FOOD channel wine expert.

    In 2019 and 2020 I was voted in the Top 30 Best Wine Critics in The World, and in my spare time, I'm a sucker for punishment and run trail ultra marathons, much to the delight of my long-suffering family. Read more about me here or get in touch to book your next wine event with me here

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