How to Use: Browse Wine Ratings

In Browse Wine Ratings, use the tabs up top to select the categories--one at a time--of wines you'd like to see. To see all wines from Italy, click on Country/State, and then Italy. To narrow this list down to only reds from Italy, next select Color and then click Red. You may continue to refine your search by choosing a wine type or varietal, vintage, winery, score range, or any combination of any of the other criteria available.

Each page you view will show your currently selected criteria and a list of wines matching that criteria. To reset a category--to see all wines (not just reds) from Italy again, for instance--simply click "remove" beside that category at the top of the results list. The wines are shown with the highest-scoring first, but you can change the sort order by clicking on Winery/Wine, Vintage or Price.

To see additional information for each wine listed, including tasting note, country and region, click on Full Notes, in the red header box. (You may switch back to Brief List view at any time by clicking on Brief List.) You may add wines to your Personal Wine List (what's this?) by checking the Select box beside each desired wine, then clicking Add Checked Wines to my Personal Wine List at the bottom of the page.

To view even more detailed information about each wine--including related wine searches, related articles and other information on our Web site, auction prices (when available), additional tastings, Personal Wine List statistics and more, simply click on the wine's name in any list view (either Brief List or Full Notes). You will be taken to that wine's Detail page. From there, use the links beneath the tasting note to access detailed information for this specific wine.

To completely clear your browsing path and look for different wines, select the Start Over link below the list of categories. Or choose another method--Basic Search or Advanced Options--from the tabs at the top of the search box.

How wines are labeled: Remember that New World wines (California, Oregon, Chile, Australia, etc.) are labeled primarily by variety--that is, the grape they're made from--while Old World wines (France, Italy, Spain, etc.) are labeled primarily by their region of origin. Therefore, searching for Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux will not turn up anything, even though Bordeaux red wine is made primarily from Cabernet. In this case you would just need to search for Bordeaux, along with any score, vintage or price criteria you may want. Meritage or other blended wines from the New World can be found either by using just a wine region or by picking the dominant grape of the blend. For instance, Opus One can be found by searching under Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Napa Valley. You can also just search for a varietal, such as Chardonnay, when seeking New World wines.

Scores: All scores are given on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale: 95-100, classic; 90-94, outstanding; 85-89, very good; 80-84, good; 75-79, mediocre; 50-74, not recommended. When a score range, rather than a single number, is given, the wine was tasted from barrel and therefore is reviewed based on its anticipated quality when bottled.

Issue dates: Notes listed with an issue date that does not correspond to an actual issue of Wine Spectator are reviews which were not published in the Buying Guide due to space constraints or the vagaries of publication deadlines. They are official reviews.

Update schedule: Tasting notes from any given issue--including all wines featured in our Daily Wine Picks and our Advance newsletter--are added to the online database after the issue has reached subscribers and once the issue has gone on sale on newsstands. For example, reviews from the Sept. 30, 2006, issue were added on or around Aug. 29, 2006. Most of the wines reviewed in the Wine Spectator Insider, our biweekly newsletter that highlights the most exciting wines from our latest tastings, will appear in the magazine. So typically, a review will make its way from the Insider to the magazine and then to the online database.

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How to Use: Advanced Search

To use our Advanced Search, you can enter search terms in the text box and/or select any combination of criteria you like, to make your search as specific and precise as you want. If you don't care about a particular category, just leave it blank. To select more than one option within a menu, hold down the shift key (if you're using a PC) or the command key (if you're using a Mac) while you click your choices. To undo a selection, hold down the shift or command key and click on the line again. To clear all selections and start over, hit the reset button. The default results page is set to display 25 wines at a time, showing the highest-scoring wines first--but you can change the display length or choose to sort by either price, vintage or winery name.

The search results page will show your currently selected criteria and a list of wines matching that criteria. You can change the sort order at any time by clicking on Winery/Wine, Vintage, Score or Price. If you're not finding what you want or if a search is not turning up any results, you may have inadvertently selected something that is affecting your results or created too narrow a set of search criteria. You can broaden your search by simply clicking "remove" beside a category at the top of the results list, and/or you can modify your search terms in the text box. Or you can choose New Search and try starting with a more general search before narrowing it down.

The search mechanism will only find exact matches in our database, so a slight difference in criteria (say, searching for "Sonoma" when we have a wine categorized as "Carneros") may not find what you had in mind. In the Sonoma/Carneros example, you could leave the region blank or select "All California."

To see additional information for each wine listed, including tasting note, country and region, click on Full Notes, in the red header box. (You may switch back to Brief List view at any time by clicking on Brief List.) You may add wines to your Personal Wine List (what's this?) by checking the Select box beside each desired wine, then clicking Add Checked Wines to my Personal Wine List at the bottom of the page.

To view even more detailed information about each wine--including related wine searches, related articles and other information on our Web site, auction prices (when available), additional tastings, Personal Wine List statistics and more, simply click on the wine's name in any list view (either Brief List or Full Notes). You will be taken to that wine's Detail page. From there, use the links beneath the tasting note to access detailed information for this specific wine.

Fuzzy Search: Selecting "Yes" for Fuzzy Search will tell our search engine to match on items which are spelled closely to (or the same as) what you typed into the search box. This will expand your search to include more matches, and is helpful in cases where you do not know the exact spelling of the winery or wine name. If you select "No" for Fuzzy Search, and you perform a search that returns zero results, the Web site will give you the option of trying that same search again, using Fuzzy Search.

How wines are labeled: Remember that New World wines (California, Oregon, Chile, Australia, etc.) are labeled primarily by variety--that is, the grape they're made from--while Old World wines (France, Italy, Spain, etc.) are labeled primarily by their region of origin. Therefore, searching for Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux will not turn up anything, even though Bordeaux red wine is made primarily from Cabernet. In this case you would just need to search for Bordeaux, along with any score, vintage or price criteria you may want. Meritage or other blended wines from the New World can be found either by using just a wine region or by picking the dominant grape of the blend. For instance, Opus One can be found by searching under Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Napa Valley. You can also just search for a varietal, such as Chardonnay, when seeking New World wines.

Scores: All scores are given on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale: 95-100, classic; 90-94, outstanding; 85-89, very good; 80-84, good; 75-79, mediocre; 50-74, not recommended. When a score range, rather than a single number, is given, the wine was tasted from barrel and therefore is reviewed based on its anticipated quality when bottled.

Issue dates: Notes listed with an issue date that does not correspond to an actual issue of Wine Spectator are reviews which were not published in the Buying Guide due to space constraints or the vagaries of publication deadlines. They are official reviews.

Update schedule: Tasting notes from any given issue--including all wines featured in our Daily Wine Picks and our Advance newsletter--are added to the online database after the issue has reached subscribers and once the issue has gone on sale on newsstands. For example, reviews from the Sept. 30, 2006, issue were added on or around Aug. 29, 2006. Most of the wines reviewed in the Wine Spectator Insider, our biweekly newsletter that highlights the most exciting wines from our latest tastings, will appear in the magazine. So typically, a review will make its way from the Insider to the magazine and then to the online database.

» More about our tastings | » Top of page