Outstanding wine; these are uniquely great wines that represent benchmarks for the grape variety, their specific terroir or Appellation. They are wines that will be more or less liked by most wine lovers, and that everyone should either try at least once in their lives, or depending on the kind of grape/wine, stock up in the cellar.

 

Excellent wine; these are wines that express what the grape variety and terroir can offer very well, if not quite at the levels of the very best wines in their category. They are all wines that are going to be liked by most people trying them; or, at the very least, appreciated for what they offer and what they represent even though they may not be exactly the type of wine a person likes or normally drinks.

Good to very good wines that offer fairly variety- and terroir-accurate drinking though they might lack the concentration, length and/or complexity of the best wines of the appellation perhaps because of a weaker vintage, younger vines, and/or viticulture and/or winemaking issues.

 

Easygoing, approachable, solidly made wines that can be worth buying for uncomplicated dining occasions (parties, barbecues, big gettogethers where paying attention to the wines is not the focus of the moment, evening, ecc…ecc…) and that are generally inexpensive.

 

Not recommended, for a variety of reasons such as, for example, the wine not being true to type (ie. varietally accurate) or over the hill.

Not Rated: any wine that is faulty, either due to a defective cork seal, poor storage conditions, or other problems and therefore cannot be fairly and properly scored/rated.