For The Love Of Port

When you are finalizing your tasting note and rating it on a numerical basis, how do you differentiate between 94 and 95 points? In other words, how do you decide which is more accurate and what is the difference between a port at each level?

In my mind there are clusters...88-91 is average, 92-94 is very good, etc. and I let go of sweating the details too much, I know I could taste the same Port once a week for 12 weeks and never get the same score every time but I should be similar in my scores all else being equal. A score is great because its a simple easy number easy to process, but I view it as a Heisenberg type thing, that is its never exact but in the vicinity of. As to 94 vs 95, it just depends on how much I'm being blown away--how complex, etc.

95 and above is legendary status for me. I'll take the age of the port more into consideration when crossing that threshold. Not only is it spectacular port; it belies what I would have thought it should've tasted like for that vintage. So few ports have I ever rated above 95 points.

I tend to use the 20 points scale. The same wine served blind over diferent days would vary by a point or two depending on many factors, but using a 20 points scale cut down that variation. The 5 stars system is even more extreme with eliminating variation and makes it even easier to decide if its 4 stars or 5 stars.

For me 95 would be like 18/20 or 5 stars and for that you need emotion, at 94, it is a well made wine that have great quality but if it does not have personality and it does not give emotion, it will never get 95.

Some excellent answers so far.

When I hit "SUBMIT" for this thread to post, I was pretty sure that within 24 hours, I'd be reading Glenn's response too.

Roy Hersh wrote:Some excellent answers so far.

When I hit "SUBMIT" for this thread to post, I was pretty sure that within 24 hours, I'd be reading Glenn's response too.

I'm a little slow these days! LOL

Like John, my numbers come in clusters. I try to pick a word (or a few words) first, then I refer those words to my point scale to see where the wine should fit. I find that I'm more consistent with words than with points - if I try to score immediately, I end up with score creep and I rate too highly. Later in the evening I find myself marking numbers down because they don't fit the words that I wrote down. So I write all of my notes, usually for at least 2-3 Ports at a time, and then go back to score them.

Less than 80 - poor, sub-standard, bad. There's no reason to drink these, short of something ancient that you just can't bear the idea of dumping.
80-83 - okay, average, drinkable... also "meh". These aren't what I'd really call bad, but they're not good either. I may or may not bother finishing a glass.
84-86 - good, fair, fine. I'll probably finish the glass, but won't want another.
87-89 - good, pretty good, nice. I'll finish the glass and would accept another if offered, but I may not go looking for another glass. Yes, "good" is in 2 ranges.
90-93 - really good, excellent. I'll definitely finish the glass and will probably ask for another. These are really solid, really good Ports. Good for any day that ends in 'y'.
94-96 - outstanding, great, superb... what I sometimes call "mechanical perfection" because there are no flaws, but they lack the magic required to get into the next range.
97-99 - magnificent, spectacular, amazing... wines at this level are virtually without peer, and it should be difficult to find words to describe them. There's magic in the glass.
100 is labeled "perfect" but really doesn't mean that, because perfect implies that it has no equal. 100 just means that it blew my mind.

Once within a range, picking one of the 3-4 numbers available is all relative. To answer Roy's specific question, the difference between a 94 and a 95 might be that the 94 hints at some very (very) minor quibble, whereas the 95 has nothing to quibble about and a 96 hints at maybe a tiny little bit of magic.

96 for me is the beginning of very rarified air. There are few Ports that ever reach this level. Above this, begins those few glasses or bottles experienced in a year, that are remembered for a long time to come. But splitting hairs to come up with 94 or 95, is for me, harder than any other numerical differentiation in a wine/Port other than 99 and 100.


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how do you differentiate between 94 and 95 points?

- I don't.

I simply the find the whole concept of the 100 point system, where a bottle of pure vinegar is supposed to still score at least 60 to be be utterly bizarre. The ongoing grade creep also means that 'good' scores are now crammed into a ten point window.

High time to ditch this nonsense IMO..