Outstanding Wines

Need a bottle of wine to bring to a holiday celebration, dinner or the office holiday wine pool? Don't just pick up something cheap, or familiar. This season, you can choose a couple bottles that are outstanding wines— that are also great values. These selections get over 90 points each when it comes to ratings, virtually guaranteeing they're going to be really enjoyable.

What to Know About Wine Ratings
There's a common system for rating wines. The 100-point scale is a score given to a wine by one or more wine critics. While these wine ratings are subjective and specific to the wine critic, most people look at them as a good benchmark of overall quality.  

Wine Ratings grew in popularity in the 1980's after a well known critic named Robert Parker started doling out scores to help consumers make better decisions on their wine purchases.

Even today, Parker is still one of the most recognized wine critics, and his 100-point system is generally considered the standard scale. 

You can expect to see the ratings expressed on labels as JS91 or RP90, where the initials represent the critic that gave the rating, while the number is their score. 

How to interpret the numbers:

• 50-59 wines are flawed and undrinkable
• 60-69 wines are flawed and not recommended but drinkable
• 70-79 wines are flawed and taste average
• 80-84 wines are ‘above average’ to ‘good’
• 85-90 wines are ‘good’ to ‘very good’
• 90-94 wines are ‘superior’ to ‘exceptional’
• 95-100 wines are benchmark examples or ‘classic’

Co-op 90+ Point Wine Selections 
With the educational portion of this article behind us, let's move on to some great 90+ point wines you can find at Co-op Wine Spirits Beer this season.

Guarda Rios Red 2020
Rated 97 points by Decanter Magazine

The critic's opinion: 

Decanter Magazine
"Ripe vine fruits, blackberry, chocolate and vanilla on the nose followed by juicy acidity in the mouth with ripe, supple tannins and notes of black olive, tobacco and garrigue on the palate."

Zuccardi Q Malbec 2019
Rated 94 Points by critic James Suckling

The critic's opinion:

JS91 James Suckling
"The Q Malbec was sourced mostly from Altamira but has some grapes from Chacayes. It fermented with 50% full clusters in concrete vats, and some 30% of the wine aged in used 225- and 500-liter oak barrels. The oak is unnoticeable, and in fact, I find similarities with the Concreto - pure, strict, raw and characterful, with plenty of fine-grained, chalky tannins. I find it to be incredibly good and with an amazing price for what it delivers."

Choose one of these high scoring wines next time you need a bottle that will impress. Find both at Co-op Wines Spirits Beer.