If you are a wine producer seeking to have your wines professionally scored and reviewed, we can help. We offer detailed evaluations and scoring on the traditional 100-point scale, using blind tasting panels of experienced experts, working under a rigorous methodology.

To learn more details before you order, call +1 ‪415 289 9760‬.
Or get the submission package via Office@SommelierCompany.com.

Expert evaluations of brandy, whiskey, tequila, mead, beer and other beverages are also available. Call us for more information.

The Sommelier Company is the nation’s leading provider for wine and spirits expertise, with a team of more than 350 certified experts. In recent years, through our work in consulting, events and education, we have built a respected national brand in technical wine expertise that many wineries and winemakers respect.

Since 2015, we have leveraged this brand to—and the tasting methods we honed and taught to thousands of consumers and professionals—to offer a much-needed service.

Wine consumers have traditionally had few places to turn for truly independent, objective and informative expert wine reviews. Likewise, quality wine producers who are not already well known face many hurdles when seeking qualified third-party evaluations of their wines.

• Few traditional critics taste under blind conditions.

• Even fewer disclose their scoring methods, scores are often quite inconsistent.

• Scores are often decided in "drive-by" tasting sessions of multiple wines, which lack the depth and rigor necessary to be a fair reflection of the winemaker’s work.

Our panels of experts are certified by the Society of Wine Educators, the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, and other trusted organizations to carefully analyze each submitted wine under blind conditions. The panel’s assessments are shaped as the wine unfolds over a period of at least two hours, in an authentic dinner setting, with no other wines present. This is the best approximation of the authentic consumer experience.

We have painstakingly developed what we believe are the most objective scoring and evaluation criteria available, according to the philosophy outlined below.

Request to receive a rating (score) for your wine from us today by calling +1 415 289 9760‬ or writing to Office@SommelierCompany.com. Once we receive your wines, we guarantee to send the assessment and score within two weeks.

Reviews are made available to producers for their promotional use, or simply for honing their wine making processes. Outstanding reviews are often distributed to our nationwide network of wine professionals, and to our consumer following.

If you believe your wines stand up to scrutiny and would benefit from an in-depth review, contact us:

While an individual’s enjoyment of a wine may be a matter of taste, professional commentary on wine quality should seek to be as rigorously objective as possible, put forward in terms that can be clearly defined and with criteria that is measurable to a reasonable degree of precision by experienced experts.

Scores should, in principle, be replicable across different panels of competent tasters, and by the same panel on different occasions.

We have produced a definitive set of criteria we regard as quantifiable in this way:

Complexity refers to the quantity and variety of tasting notes (aromas and flavors) that are clearly discernible in the wine. A wine lacking complexity is mono-dimensional.

Balance refers to the proportion and harmoniousness of essential attributes of the wine, such as its acid, alcohol, tannin or residual sugar—as perceived by the taster. Balance is not measured in a lab; for example, it’s possible for a high-alcohol wine to “hide” it well. We also assess “integrity” as an aspect of balance. A wine of integrity shows a linear development from nose to finish. It tells a coherent story, with no jarring plot twists.

Expressiveness, sometimes “intensity,” refers to the availability of aroma and flavor attributes to perception—the ease with which they are discoverable and enjoyable.

Two additional attributes of quality are assessed in each evaluation. While a score will not suffer from a lack of these attributes, a borderline score may be improved by them.

Typicity refers to the fidelity of a wine to the usual attributes of its component grape varieties, its regional appellation, or its purported style.

Character: Some individual wines, like people, have distinct, pleasant, and highly memorable personalities. A distinct character may help a typical wine to stand apart, and it may rescue an atypical wine from being a disappointment.

1. A tasting panel consisting of a lead evaluator and one to four other experts convenes for a session of two or more hours, with two bottles of the same wine.

2. Wine bottles are selected, covered, numbered, and presented to the panel by an assistant. Bottles are not decanted. Large, clean glasses are used.

3. The assistant serves an initial 2-ounce pour for each panelist. Additional 2-ounce pours are served at 10- to 15-minute intervals throughout the tasting.

4. Without discussion, all panelists take notes about their individual observations and impressions, and each completes a preliminary worksheet. Tasting notes generally follow the Wine and Spirit Education Trust body of standard descriptors.

5. After 30 minutes, once the worksheets have been completed, the lead evaluator guides a systematic discussion of the observations and impressions.

6. The lead evaluator completes the blind tasting portion of the Wine Evaluation and Scoring Sheet based on the worksheets and discussion.

7. The assistant collects the Wine Evaluation and Scoring Sheet, reveals the bottles, and the panelists come to a consensus about the typicity and character of the wine. The assistant marks the scores and calculates the final score for the wine.

8. The lead evaluator completes and signs the wine evaluation certificate.

To have your wines professionally scored and evaluated using our unbiased, rigorous process, simply call +1 415 289 9760‬, or write to Office@SommelierCompany.com.