‘Expert’ wine reviews are often paid for. So should you trust them?

Wine is the most popular alcoholic drink in Australia. We have more than 2,100 local wineries , as well as copious amounts of imported wines. With so much to choose from – and prices ranging from less than $5 to more than $1,000 – even wine aficionados can sometimes struggle to pick a bottle.

Is a $1,000 bottle of wine 200 times “better” than a $5 bottle? Ultimately, our enjoyment of wine is based on our personal taste (literally). But unless you have the opportunity to taste before you buy, you have to look for other quality cues. A consumer making a wine purchase may consider a number of factors such as brand reputation, reviews/ratings (including recommendations from friends), taste (such as grape variety, flavour and sweetness preference), occasion, price, and the appeal of the label, packaging or name.

Alongside this, wineries and liquor retailers also proactively market their wines by displaying high scores from wine reviews and wine show results. But how valuable are these reviews and results, really? The (many) ways of reviewing wine First, what qualifies someone to be a wine reviewer? Although there are no specific qualifications, reviewers will typically have extensive training and experience in wine appreciation and/or winemaking. Importantly, wine is generally rated based on its quality relative to other wines of the same grape variety and growing region.

This means it is problematic to directly compare ratings across different wine varieties and regions. .