The Halliday Tasting Team uses the globally recognised 100-point system. This ‘Ratings Scale’ is often the main framework adopted by wine and spirits shows both nationally and internationally, as well as by critics worldwide.
Wine Ratings Scale
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97-99 |
G O L D |
5 glasses - red
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Exceptional Wines of major trophy standard in important wine shows. |
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95-96 |
5 glasses - black |
Outstanding Wines of gold medal standard, usually with a great pedigree. |
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94 |
S I L V E R |
5 glasses - black |
Wines on the cusp of gold medal status.
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90-93 |
4.5 glasses |
Highly Recommended Wines of silver medal standard, demonstrating great quality, style and character, and worthy of a place in any cellar. |
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89 |
B R O N Z E |
4 glasses |
Recommended Wines on the cusp of silver medal standard.
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86-88 |
4 glasses |
Wines of bronze medal standard; well produced, flavoursome wines, usually not requiring cellaring. |
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84-85 |
3.5 glasses |
Acceptable Wines of good commercial quality, free from significant fault. |
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NR |
- |
Not Rated Wines reviewed but scored below 84 points. |
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Special value |
Wines considered to offer special value for money within the context of their glass symbol status. This can apply at any price point, and for consistency a basic algorithm is applied to take into account the price of a wine and the points it is awarded. A value rosette is given, for instance, to $11 wines scoring 85 or more points, $21 wines scoring 90 or more, $35 wines of 95 or more and $200 wines with 98 or more. |
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Shortlisted for an award |
Nominated by the tasting panel as the best example of this variety/ style in its region. |
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Hall of Fame |
A wine inducted into the James Halliday Hall of Fame: Wine. An award reserved for the best of the best. |
Where a score indicates a + after the number, it is suggested by the Tasting Team that the wine may well improve with ageing and may warrant a higher rating if reviewed at a later date. + is only applicable to wine reviews and scores.
PD – Where a note is prefixed by ‘PD’ (panel decision), it means that the wine was re-scored by the entire Tasting Team at the annual Halliday Awards judging, where a select shortlist is assessed blind to establish yearly award winners.
The initials DB, JF, JP, KB, ME, MB, PR, SW and TP appearing at the end of a tasting note signify that Dave Brookes, Jane Faulkner, Jeni Port, Katrina Butler, Marcus Ellis, Mike Bennie, Philip Rich, Shanteh Wale or Toni Paterson MW tasted the wine and provided the tasting note and rating. Biographies for each member of the Tasting Team and their regions can be found here.
