When someone says “this wine has 94 points”, the right question isn't “how much is it?”. It's “who scored it?”. Without a name, the score is noise. With a name — and a method — it becomes a useful filter for anyone who wants to buy wine online without getting lost in the catalogue.
Vinogrande is a wine shop in Moledo do Minho. The house rule is easy to read: wines with 90 or more points from renowned critics and publications. This article doesn't invent scores or SKUs. It's here to explain who these names are — abroad and in Portugal — and why they matter at the digital counter.
What a critic does (and doesn't do)
A wine critic tastes, compares, writes and scores. They don't sell the case. They don't manage the shop's stock. They don't guarantee the wine will please everyone at the table.
What a score usually signals, in tasting terms: balance, clarity of origin, ability to age or to shine now. What it doesn't signal: fair price, universal taste, availability tomorrow. That's why, when we quote a score on a product page, we quote the source — copied, not rounded.
A Wine Advocate 90 isn't a Revista de Vinhos 90. Each system has its own scale, palate and calendar. Buying with judgement means reading the name before the number.
International critics and publications
Luis Gutiérrez — Wine Advocate
Luis Gutiérrez (also written Luiz Gutiérrez) is the Wine Advocate critic who usually covers Spain and Portugal. He carries on the tasting tradition Robert Parker made readable worldwide: a 100-point scale, descriptive notes, attention to terroir and ageing.
For buyers, the name matters because many product pages and back labels quote “Parker” or “Wine Advocate” when the tasting was done by Gutiérrez. It's worth reading the full name on the product page — not just the publication's brand.
James Suckling
James Suckling tastes and scores wines from many origins, with a strong presence in Italy, Spain, Portugal and the New World. His scores circulate widely in online shops and producer marketing. As always: a score only counts with the source written next to it.
Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is one of the most widely read publications in the English-speaking world. It combines blind panel tastings, annual rankings and reporting. A “Spectator” wine isn't automatically better than another — it's a wine that has been through a recognised, widely quoted tasting process.
Tim Atkin MW
Tim Atkin, Master of Wine, publishes detailed regional reports (including Spain and, increasingly, Portugal). The MW title signals rigorous training: this isn't bar-room opinion. His reports help make sense of vintages, producers and styles — useful for buying for the cellar, not just for next Friday.
Jeb Dunnuck
Jeb Dunnuck is an independent critic who started out covering the Rhône and California, later widening to other regions. Many drinkers who followed the Parker world now also follow Dunnuck's tastings. 100-point scale; direct style; a name to quote on the product page when the shop uses it.
Antonio Galloni — Vinous
Antonio Galloni founded Vinous, a criticism and reporting platform that inherited and expanded a demanding tasting tradition (Italy, Bordeaux, California, Champagne and more). For serious readers of criticism in English, Vinous is a benchmark for method and archive — not for discount slogans.
Falstaff
Austria's Falstaff is a strong brand in Central Europe: tastings, guides and awards, often linked to the Masters of Wine circuit and continental criticism. Less “Instagram noise”, more presence on wine lists and in importers' conversations. When a product page quotes Falstaff, you know you're on the European map of professional tasting.
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine, is one of the most influential voices in British and world wine criticism. She writes with precision and publishes on jancisrobinson.com and in reference works (including the Oxford Companion to Wine). Her scores — often on a 20-point scale — need careful reading: they don't convert mechanically to 100 points without context.
Portugal: the publications customers already know
Revista Grandes Escolhas
Grandes Escolhas magazine is a Portuguese benchmark for tastings, guides and selections. For Portuguese buyers, the name turns up on shelves, in the press and in wine-shop conversation. When Vinogrande quotes Grandes Escolhas on a product page, it quotes the publication — not a stray number.
Revista de Vinhos
Revista de Vinhos is, for many people in Portugal, their first contact with scores and systematic tastings. Yearbooks, panels and reporting help map regions, vintages and producers. It's still one of the most requested sources at the counter: “was it in Revista de Vinhos?”.
How Vinogrande uses this (without inventing numbers)
Simple rule:
- If the product page quotes 90+, it quotes who scored it.
- No source, no number in the shop's text.
- Stock changes; this article doesn't freeze a list of wines.
- Free shipping in mainland Portugal over €80 (Spain over €150). Secure payments. Below that threshold, shipping is calculated at checkout.
Black Friday and Christmas weigh heavily on the calendar. The market's temptation is to train customers to buy only when there's a red slash through the price. Curation is the opposite: first the judgement (critic, origin, tasting), then the price at checkout — not the other way round.
How to read a score before you click “buy”
- Who scored it? Name and publication.
- When? A 2018 score on a wine that has already evolved may be history, not a guide for tonight's table.
- What for? Dinner this week, a gift, or the cellar?
- Does it reach €80? The free shipping threshold for mainland Portugal — a house rule, not a campaign trick.
Orders placed by 2 pm on a working day ship the same day or the next working day. Wine is fragile: in extreme heat, dispatch may be delayed. Alcoholic drinks are sold only to over-18s.
— Vinogrande, Moledo do Minho. Buy wine online. 90+ points from renowned critics. Free shipping in mainland Portugal over €80.
