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Wine Ratings Explained: What is a 90-point wine?

Our Featured Blackbird Wines are 90+ point wines. Learn what wine ratings mean.

Recently, our wine club featured Blackbird Vineyards 2012 “Arise” Napa Valley Proprietary Red Wine and Blackbird Vineyards 2012 “Paramour” Red Wine in our Signature Series wine club.

Their combined 10 reviews rated them from 91 to 95 points.

If that sounds impressive, it’s because it is. Though quite an achievement for a pair of wines from a tiny Napa producer, this producer garners 90+ scores routinely.

But what do 90+ ratings really mean? Here we share some wine industry input.

Wine Ratings Explained

Every wine publication from the Wine Spectator to Connoisseurs’ Guide has something in mind when they rank a wine in the upper stratosphere.

Any wine rated 90 to 94 points Wine Spectator defines as “Outstanding: A wine of superior character and style.” 95 to 100 points means the wine is “Classic: a great wine.”

Critics will say that wines at this level often offer beautiful expressions that are specific to that wine varietal. The Pinot Noir is complex, the Cabs are deep and voluptuous, the Zin is absolutely Zinful.

In fact, tasting wines rated at 90 points or more is a great wine education, because there are commonalities. These are what critics call balanced wines, with no part — oak, tannins, fruit — jutting an elbow out into your palate.

Style and grace, wrapped up in a beautiful package — that’s a 90-point wine ready to pour and enjoy.  If you would enjoy the convenience of having 90+ rated wines delivered to your door, we invite you to try our Signature Series wine club.

Signature Series Wine Club

2 Responses

  1. Steven says:

    So do the bottle labels tell you the point rating of the wine or how do you know if a wine is 90-94 or 95-100?

    • Karen D says:

      Good question, Steven! Wine labels typically do not include this information. If you are looking at wines in our wine store, https://www.cawineclub.com/online-wine-sales, we include reviews and ratings in the information for each wine. At a wine shop, they will often have information about wine reviews and ratings on the shelves with the wines. I hope this helps! Cheers!

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