How to Score Wine: WineTen

Concentration, Length, Balance, Complexity. Score in that order and the points count up: 1, 2, 3, 4. Complexity counts most because it best separates good wine from great wine. Concentration counts least because once a wine is fully expressed, more of it makes the wine bigger, not better.

1. Taste the whole wine first: look, smell, sip, and wait for the finish.
2. Score the four in order, choosing the line that fits.
3. Fill the dots it earns and count them. That's your score out of 10.

Concentration asks one question: does the wine fully deliver what it sets out to be? It isn't the same as intensity. A light, delicate red and a big, ripe one can both earn the point.

Ask yourself:

1. Does the flavor hold its shape through the middle of your mouth?
2. Are the flavors specific, or vague and watery?
3. Does the lightness feel like a choice, or like something is missing?

Length is how long the flavor stays after you swallow. Count flavor, not structure: lingering acid, alcohol warmth, or bitterness on its own isn't length. Try this: swallow, breathe out through your nose, and keep counting while you can still taste the wine.

Balance asks whether everything sits in proportion: acid, tannin, alcohol, sugar, and fruit. Check for heat on the finish, tannins that feel green or drying, acid that feels flat or sharp, and sweetness that feels heavy. Something that stands out at first but settles by the finish is a 2. Something that stays out is a 1. Judge each wine for what it's built to be: a wine made to age can feel firm when young without being out of balance.

Complexity is how many distinct layers a wine shows and whether it keeps changing. Look past fruit to earth, minerals, herbs, spice, and notes from lees, oak, or age. Come back after a few minutes: a 3 or a 4 will have changed.

Watch for makeup. Oak, lees, and age can add layers quickly. Ask whether the layers belong to the wine or sit on top of it.

1. Balance cap. If Balance scores 0 or 1, the total can't go above 6. A complex wine that's hot or green is interesting, not great.
2. Judge for the style. Concentration and Complexity are measured against what that style and age can deliver. A great young, simple white can still earn a 3 for Complexity.
3. Faulted wines aren't scored. Cork taint, excessive volatile acidity, unintended oxidation, or reduction that doesn't blow off. Note the fault instead.

The 100-point column is a rough guide for readers used to critics' scores, not a conversion.

WineTen keeps the quality markers widely taught in wine education, including the WSET's balance, length, intensity, and complexity. It changes three things:

• It weights them. Complexity counts four times as much as Concentration.
• It separates describing from scoring. Intensity is described, not scored.
• It makes style an explicit rule, so a delicate wine isn't marked down for being delicate.

• Download the scoring card (PDF)
• Use the Flight of Four sheet with a friend
• New to tasting? Start with Wine 101: How to Taste