Wine critic

A wine critic is a person who evaluates wine and describes it either with a numerical rating, a tasting note, or a combination of both. Their critiques, found in books, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, online, or in sales materials for wine, are often used by consumers in the process of deciding whether or not to buy a wine.

Journalistic criticism

Critics working for wine-related magazines generally review new releases, often in comparison with other wines from the same region, varietal, or vintage. Occasionally, retrospective tastings will be published as well, tasting wines years or decades after their initial review was published.

Methodology

The tasting methodology of different outlets varies; for example, the American publication, Wine Spectator, has editors taste wines blind in flights of similar vintage and varietal. Other outlets taste in similar fashion. Different critics will use different descriptive scales, with the major US critics using a 50-100 point scale, and most newspapers using a 5-star scale.