The idea is to use the whole 100 scale and not only the last twenty percent.
Then, it is important to understand that the rating does not mean that I like the wine, it is a judgment about its quality. Then it is possible that there will be a slight difference between the rating and my actual preference. If I do like the wine, I will explain it in the comment or if I feel that you could like a wine even if the rating is poor, I will also explain it. The rating is design to help you compare different wines but in any case, the description is always more important.
The rating takes this form: x/100 ; y z
The rating on 100 is to be understood as follows (you can see that I use colors to define more simple categories), please notice that I don’t take the price into account when I rate. It is up to you to ponder the rating afterwards:
< 30/100 : There is a defect, wine is undrinkable. Avoid at all cost.
from 30/100 to 39/100 : Poor wine, no obvious defect but no point to drink either.
from 40/100 to 59/100 : Plain, decent everyday wine. Also not very interesting.
from 60/100 to 69/100 : Good wine. One can start to enjoy.
from 70/100 to 79/100 : Very good wine. Reaching this point means that this is worth tasting. Typically these wines are technically perfect but lacks some balance. It can also be the rating of a too young wine.
from 80/100 to 89/100 : Excellent wine. These are the wines one remember. The wines which can bring emotion.
from 90/100 to 99/100 : Wine of exceptionnal quality. Close to perfection. Absolutely and undoubtly great.
100/100 : Rare and perfect rating, absolute emotion. Nothing to add. I rated one wine up to now at 100/100
The second half of the rating is a number (0, 5, 10, 15) and a serie of signs (– –, –, 0, +, ++, +++, ++++):
The number gives you an idea of the time needed before you can really enjoy the wine. In other words, how long you should keep it before opening. 0 means that it is enjoyable right now, 5: should wait 3-7 years before opening, 10: 7 to 13 years… It is an idea. If I put 0 does not mean that it will not be good in 5 years, it just means that you can start to drink it right now.
The signs helps you understand how much better it will get if you keep it. – — means that the wine is already far too old; –, the wine is declining, almost too old; 0, the wine will not get better; +, it will be around 5 points higher; ++, it will raise by 10 points; +++, it will improve by 15 points; and finally ++++, it will get around 20 points better.
Exemples :
75/100 ; 5 ++
65/100 ; 0 —
80/100 ; 15 ++++
30/100 ; 0, – —
Enjoy!