The Glug Wine Value Rating melds two numbers given to a wine – its price per bottle and a rating of its quality.
The price bit is an easy measure – what you pay for it. That figure will vary depending on who is selling it. Shoppers at Dan Murphy will have a lower price figure than those supplied by Liquorland. You will see the impact that can have by using the table below.
The rating of a wine’s quality is very much a subjective thing. One person’s great and enjoyable red can be very ordinary drinking for another. Even those who consider themselves expert palates – like wine judges and wine writers – can differ considerably in their ratings. There are any number of examples of that on the show circuit with today’s gold medal being tomorrow’s bronze or worse.
Hence we do not assert that there’s such a thing as a universal value rating. The ratings very much depend on individual judgments.
As a starting point at Glug we note that the average price paid in Australia for 750mls of wine to be drunk at home from casks and bottles is in the $11 to $13 range. On a scale with 1 being drinkable but not really pleasant to 10 for that very rare near perfect drink, we assume that $12 average wine would qualify for a quality rating of 4 to 5.
Our rather rough and ready quality rating scale looks like this:
| Quality Rating | Description of the type of wine |
|---|---|
| 1 | It might be alcoholic but not really pleasant |
| 2 | It is wine, it is alcoholic, and there will be times … |
| 3 | Nothing fancy but quite drinkable without major faults |
| 4 | Pleasantly drinkable |
| 5 | Most well made commercial quality wines and a few expensive small producer efforts too |
| 6 | Moving up the drinkability scale and the price one too probably. |
| 7 | Wines that pass “the bottle test” where you can be tempted to open another one. |
| 8 | Real enjoyment that would be great to find every day |
| 9 | Wines of quality with characteristics of distinction. Not many reach this level. |
| 10 | Rare finds where you cannot think how they could be any better. |
Armd with a price and a quality rating, move on to determining the Wine Vales Rating. Wine prices are down the first column; quality ratings across the rows. For example an $8 wine with a quality rating of 6 would have a Value Rating of 6. A $17 wine with a quality rating of 6 would have a Value Rating of 4.
