Most places offering wine recommendations, reviews, and ratings are biased—even if the source of the bias isn’t obvious. They often come via sponsorship of wine producers or distributors, or from platforms beholden to advertisers. Plus, many reviewers favor and look down on certain wine types or regions.

Not us. We’re open-minded wine lovers, and also experts: Master Sommeliers, Masters of Wine, and other industry professionals. We accept no advertising from wine sellers, producers, or distributors, and our reviewers are prohibited from recommending any wines with which they have any sort of established relationship.

Traditional wine reviews tend to focus solely on quality. Quality is really important, of course, but it’s not the whole picture from a practical consumer standpoint. After all, not everyone can open a $100 bottle every night. Nor do they have to in order to enjoy distinctive wine-drinking experiences. 

We consider the major factors of a wine’s virtue—characteristics like its bouquet, balance, body, complexity, and finish—then we evaluate the impression it makes against its cost. Thus, we assign a value rating that identifies wines that are particularly smart purchases because their quality significantly exceeds their price point.