Do you buy wine based on it’s Points?

It has been a while since we visited the topic of “Scored Wine,” or in other words, wine that has been given a point value by someone. In a previous article I conveyed a caution: Don’t just blindly grab a bottle just because it has the closest number to 100 on it!  There are a lot of organizations that “Score” wine, some with very good reputations, others not so.Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, James Suckling, etc. Is there a difference?  Yes!  Do you even recognize the organization that score it?  Not only do you need vet the organization that printed that “92” on the bottle but you need to see if their grading system matches your tastes.  Does that “92 points by James Suckling” equate to that level of experience on YOUR palate?If you have been buying a lot of wine, for a while, scored by James Suckling and liked what you have been getting then great, stick with it!  Every organization that scores wine has its own criteria.  Some publish what that criteria is, others keep it behind smoke and mirrors, so you will have to experiment with the different scoring organizations.Tonight’s Crowd Favorite was Escudo Rojo 2020 Chilean Reserve Chardonnay.  Chardonnay tends to make drinkers very opinionated. It is either too oaky, or too watery, or from California, or not from California. Something about Chardonnay brings out the inner wine critic in a lot of us.  Well, Escudo Rojo quelled the critics and seemed to please the masses.If you do a search for the tasting notes you will find this right off of the distributor’s website: “…voluptuous tropical fruit and yellow peach aromas, followed on airing by notes of gingerbread and toasted brioche. The palate is pleasantly full, the attack reveals the aromatic intensity of tropical fruit such as pineapple and passion fruit…a range of tropical fruit flavors together with notes of toasted almond and mild spices such as cumin and cinnamon, building to an attractively long finish on elegant touches of toasted hazelnut, mild spice and pineapple.”  That’s a lot of words, really too many, and I even left out some of the verbal non-sense.  It sounds like they were trying too hard and I doubt that anyone felt the “attack.”  I sure didn’t!  Even so it was a pleasant Chardonnay at a great price, during a beautiful evening upstairs at So Gourmet (above and part of Bodacious).  If you didn’t like it take note of why.  Also take note of what the Score was and who scored it, adding yet another tool to your wine choosing kit.  Doing so will only make you a better wine buyer, and when you can effectively and efficiently buy a wine you will like everyone wins.  Cheers to that!