data honesty
How Scores Work
Every rating, description, and margin figure in this catalog is derived from the Planet Wine Spring 2026 Price Bookand its published enrichment metadata. This page is that metadata, verbatim, plus a census of where each wine's score and description actually come from — including the 314 wines that carry no rating because nobody has reviewed them.
Score Consistency Notes (verbatim)
All professional critic scores are on the 100-point scale unless marked otherwise. Vivino uses a 5-point community scale. Scores marked 'en primeur' were assessed from barrel before bottling and may differ from final bottle scores. Appellation average estimates are statistical approximations, not specific wine ratings.
Reading the Catalog
- A rating means someone reviewed that wine — a score appears only where a named critic or a published composite of professional reviews judged that wine. There is no estimated score: we do not infer quality from what a bottle costs, and we do not convert a regional average into a score for an individual bottle. 99 of the 413 wines here have such a review.
- The other 314 show nothing — not a dash, not “Unrated,” not a hedge. On the browse grid an unreviewed wine simply carries no rating chip. On a wine's own page and in Compare — where you are looking at one wine and an empty cell would be ambiguous — it reads “No critic score — not yet reviewed.” That is a statement about our coverage, not a verdict on the wine.
- Appellation averages describe the region — where Vivino publishes a community average for an appellation, it appears on the wine's page only, in stars, with the region named inside the sentence (“Sancerre appellation averages 3.8★ on Vivino”). It is never converted to a 100-point number, never shown on a card, and never used to rank or sort. The dataset's own note says it plainly: appellation averages are statistical approximations, not ratings of a specific wine.
- Value ranks are gated— value scores and “#N of 67” ranks appear only for wines whose retail price was confirmed on Wine-Searcher, in standard 750ml format. For every other wine the retail price is a standard-markup assumption, so we show a plain-dollar estimatedmargin (e.g. “Buy $14.00 → sell ~$23.00”) and no rank — ranking assumptions would only echo the assumption back as a finding.
Provenance Census — 413 wines
Counted from the catalog data at build time.
| Provenance | Wines |
|---|---|
| Published professional critic score | 60 |
| Composite score from published reviews | 39 |
| No critic score — not yet reviewed | 314 |
| Retail price market-verified (Wine-Searcher) | 83 |
| Retail price from standard-markup assumption | 330 |
| “About this wine” description present | 413 of 413 |
Descriptions
Every wine in the catalog carries an “About this wine” line — 413 of 413. Where a published review gave us an original summary, that is what you read, with the source cited. Where none exists, the line is generated from appellation law and the catalog's own fields: it names the origin, the grape where the appellation determines a single variety, the blend stated as prose where the appellation determines a permitted set instead, the style, and the trade use. It never says how the wine tastes and never says how good it is — both would require someone to have opened the bottle.
Generated lines carry the rule they encode, so a wrong claim is traceable rather than anonymous (215 of them cite an appellation rule such as “AOC Chablis: 100% Chardonnay”; 299descriptions in total carry a citation). Grapes are recovered from appellation law only — never guessed from a neighbouring line in the price book.
| Description source | Wines |
|---|---|
| Original summary from a published review, cited | 84 |
| Generated from appellation law, with a rule citation | 215 |
| Generated from catalog fields (origin, color, format, farming) | 111 |
| Written by Planet Wine | 3 |
Retail Verification Coverage by Region
Wine-Searcher retail confirmation is uneven across regions, so the Market-Verified Margins ranking structurally favors well-covered regions — a region at zero cannot appear in the ranking regardless of actual value. A provenance audit (July 2026) concluded the original verification pass was priority-scoped to high-value wines (Bordeaux crus classés, Burgundy Grand Cru, Northern Rhône, Champagne prestige cuvées): unverified regions were not yet checked, not checked-and-absent. Their prices have simply not been individually verified against market data. Counts are distinct wines eligible for ranking (750ml format), computed from the catalog data at build time and tracked as a pipeline health metric.
| Region | Verified | Wines | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bordeaux | 56 | 80 | 70% |
| Burgundy | 8 | 58 | 14% |
| Champagne | 2 | 7 | 29% |
| Rhône Valley | 1 | 21 | 5% |
| Loire Valley | 0 | 63 | 0% |
| California | 0 | 43 | 0% |
| Languedoc | 0 | 22 | 0% |
| Provence | 0 | 13 | 0% |
| Alsace | 0 | 12 | 0% |
| Beaujolais | 0 | 12 | 0% |
| Italy | 0 | 11 | 0% |
| South-West | 0 | 10 | 0% |
| Armagnac | 0 | 6 | 0% |
| Cognac | 0 | 5 | 0% |
| Normandy | 0 | 4 | 0% |
| Corsica | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| Martinique | 0 | 3 | 0% |
| Jura | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Savoie | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| Oregon | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| France | 0 | 2 | 0% |
| New Zealand | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Brittany | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Mexico | 0 | 1 | 0% |
Leaderboard eligibility rule: one entry per wine identity, standard 750ml format, retail price confirmed on Wine-Searcher. The ranking answers a margin question, not a quality question — a wine's rating never affects its position, and an unreviewed wine competes on exactly the same footing as a reviewed one.
Value Score Formula
((estimated_retail_price - planet_wine_wholesale_price) / planet_wine_wholesale_price) × 100
The potential markup available to a retailer buying at Planet Wine's wholesale price. Shown as a ranked percentage only for the 67 market-verified 750ml wines; as plain-dollar estimated margin everywhere else.
Primary Sources
- Wine Advocate (Robert Parker / Wine Advocate team) — 100-point scale
- James Suckling — 100-point scale
- Jeb Dunnuck — 100-point scale
- Wine Spectator — 100-point scale
- Wine Enthusiast — 100-point scale
- Decanter — 100-point scale
- Vinous (Antonio Galloni) — 100-point scale
- Vivino — 5-point community scale (60M+ users)
- Burghound (Allen Meadows) — 100-point scale (Burgundy specialist)
- Wine-Searcher — critic score aggregator
Enrichment Phases
The dataset's own record of how it was built, verbatim. What the catalog displaysis narrower than what was enriched: some fields described below — notably the appellation-level Vivino estimates — exist in the data but are no longer rendered as a rating for an individual wine.
Phase 1
Extracted critic scores already published in the Planet Wine price book (Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, James Suckling, Vinous, Robert Parker Wine Advocate)
Phase 2
Researched professional critic scores via Wine-Searcher aggregated reviews, individual critic publications (Wine Advocate, James Suckling, Jeb Dunnuck, Decanter, Vinous, Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast), retailer databases (Wine.com, Millesima, BBR), and CellarTracker community notes. Priority given to high-value wines (Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé, Burgundy Grand Cru, Northern Rhône, Champagne prestige cuvées).
Phase 3
For wines without professional critic coverage, provided Wine-Searcher and Vivino lookup URLs for self-service score retrieval.
Phase 4
Added Vivino community rating estimates based on published appellation-level averages from Vivino's database of 60M+ users and 13M+ wines.
Phase 5
- Retail Price Estimation
Retail prices sourced from Wine-Searcher average retail (ex-tax USD) for identifiable wines. For wines without exact retail matches, estimated using industry-standard US wholesale-to-retail markup multipliers calibrated by price tier: entry-level 70%, mid-range 50-65%, premium 40-55%, ultra-premium 35-45%. Reserve cellar wines (already near retail pricing) use 15% markup. Spirits use 40% markup.
- Value Score Formula
((estimated_retail_price - planet_wine_wholesale_price) / planet_wine_wholesale_price) × 100
- Value Score Interpretation
Represents the potential markup percentage available to a retailer purchasing at Planet Wine's wholesale price. Higher scores indicate wines where Planet Wine's pricing offers the most room for retail margin — i.e., the best value buys for the trade.
- Value Rank
1 = best value (highest potential margin), descending order
- Sources
- Wine-Searcher (wine-searcher.com) — average US retail ex-tax
- Wine Spectator futures analysis
- Wine.com retail prices
- Millesima USA retail prices
- Industry wholesale-to-retail markup benchmarks (WSWA, Wine Business Monthly)
Phase 6 French Critics
- Description
Added French-language critic reviews from France's three most authoritative wine guides, providing a European perspective distinct from the Anglo-Saxon critics (Parker, Suckling, etc.)
- Sources
- Guide Hachette
- Name
Guide Hachette des Vins
- Url
https://www.hachette-vins.com
- Country
France
- Methodology
Blind tasting by 800+ professional tasters (oenologists, sommeliers, négociants). ~40,000 wines tasted annually, ~10,000 selected. Scale: 0-3 étoiles (stars) + Coup de Cœur (highest distinction). All tastings are blind and collegial.
- Scale
0-3 étoiles (0=cité/selected, 1★=très réussi/very successful, 2★★=remarquable, 3★★★=exceptionnel) + ♥ Coup de Cœur
- Established
1985
- Language
French
- Coverage
170,000+ wines in database, focus on French wines, all price ranges
- Revue Vin De France
- Name
La Revue du Vin de France (RVF)
- Url
https://www.larvf.com
- Country
France
- Methodology
Committee of ~20 expert tasters including Olivier Poussier (World Best Sommelier). Blind tastings from March to June at domaines. ~6,500-10,000 wines tasted, ~5,500-7,500 best selected for Le Guide Vert. Domaines rated with Michelin-style stars (1-3★).
- Scale
/100 since 2020 (previously /20). Domaine stars: 1★=notable, 2★★=outstanding, 3★★★=exceptional (only ~20 producers)
- Established
1927
- Language
French
- Coverage
France's oldest and most prestigious wine magazine. 'La bible du vin français.'
- Bettane Desseauve
- Name
Bettane+Desseauve
- Url
https://www.mybettanedesseauve.fr
- Country
France
- Methodology
Expert tastings by Michel Bettane (Académie Internationale du Vin) and Thierry Desseauve. Two-tier rating: domaine /5 + individual wines /100. Partnered with Jancis Robinson and Antonio Galloni (Vinous) on Wine Lister for cross-critic objectivity.
- Scale
Domaine: /5 (5=sommet absolu). Wine: /100. Also uses /20 in older editions.
- Established
1996
- Language
French
- Coverage
Internationally renowned. Focus on best French domaines with no quota per appellation.
- New Fields
- French Critic Reviews
Array of {critic, score, vintage_noted, edition, note, url} objects from French guides
- French Critic Lookup
Direct search URLs for Guide Hachette, Bettane+Desseauve, and La Revue du Vin de France for wines without specific matches
- Scoring Scale Comparison
- Guide Hachette
0-3★ + Coup de Cœur (blind tasting, collegial, ~40K wines/year)
- RVF
/100 (since 2020) + domaine 1-3★ (~20 tasters, blind at domaine)
- Bettane+Desseauve
Wine /100 + domaine /5 (expert pair, no quota per appellation)
- Vs Anglo Saxon
Wine Advocate, James Suckling, Jeb Dunnuck all use /100. Hachette's star system is fundamentally different: it rewards quality relative to appellation and price, making it especially valuable for discovering lesser-known gems.
Phase 7 Review Summaries
- Description
Replaced lookup URLs with actual review summaries and quality scores for every wine.
- Review Summary
Paraphrased critic tasting notes from Wine Advocate, James Suckling, Jeb Dunnuck, Decanter, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, Vinous, Burghound, CellarTracker, Guide Hachette, and Bettane+Desseauve. Sourced via Wine-Searcher aggregates, retailer pages, producer websites, and direct critic publication references.
- Quality Score
Composite score /100 computed as the average of all available professional critic scores (100-point scale) plus French critic ratings converted to 100-point equivalents (Hachette: 1★=87, 2★★=90, 3★★★=94; B+D domaine: 3/5=88, 4/5=92, 5/5=96; RVF: 1★=87, 2★★=91, 3★★★=95). Vivino community scores converted from 5-point scale when available.
- Quality Tier
Exceptional (96+), Outstanding (93-95), Excellent (90-92), Very Good (87-89), Good (84-86), Above Average (80-83)
- New Fields
- review_summary
- review_summary_sources
- quality_score
- quality_score_computed
- quality_tier
Questions about a specific score? Get in touch or head back to the catalog.