Wine Spectator reviews of new releases are based on blind tastings (with a few exceptions, which are always noted). The tastings are arranged in flights of 20-40 wines, tasted by a single editor whose initials appear on the review. Neither price nor producer is ever disclosed. Vintage, appellation and grape variety are normally disclosed, in order to give the taster appropriate context for evaluation.

For example, I review the wines of Spain. I know that 2002 and 2003 were very different vintages, and Rioja and Toro are very different regions, so I think it would be inappropriate to include a 2003 Toro in a flight of 2002 Riojas, or vice versa, without specifying these attributes. You could argue that this makes the tasting less blind, but I think it makes it more fair.

For me, producer and price are the factors that are most likely to sway a taster’s judgment unfairly. Among 20 2002 Riojas in brown paper bags may lurk a $10 crianza from a cooperative and a $150 “vino de autor” from a boutique bodega. I don’t know which is which, so I can’t favor the value wine (which may be an advertiser) or the cult wine (which may have high scores from other critics). I simply evaluate all the wines on how well they succeeded in expressing the character of Rioja in a cool vintage.

Thomas Matthews
Executive editor
Wine Spectator