Here at Kiwi Wine Fan Club we are always looking to lead. Chasing 95-100 point wines has become too expensive, so we have decided to do the wine equivalent of printing more money. Unlike anyone else I am aware of we rate out of 109 points. Why do we do this??

1. Because we can. It is a free world
2. Makes it cheaper to drink 95-100 point wines
3. Impress your friends by quoting us, sounds better
4. We dont cater to points lemmings anyway
5. As satire. Everyone has a different palate. You are just reading what we think. It doesnt make us right or better than you. Go out and try a few recomendations and make up your own mind.
6. Lets not fool ourselves, there is no universal rating system! A 95 point Parker wine is not going to be on the same scale as a 95 point Tanzar wine!
7. 109 is a prime number, so it must be good??
8. We were under the influence at the time and it seemed a good idea.

The 109 point system has a margin of error. Wines can taste better out of great glassware, at a great occassion and with great friends. It can taste better when you have had a good day at work, when you are relaxed or not stressed. It can taste better when served at the right temperature or when you are in the mood for that type of wine. Many things influence the percieved quality of a wine. We are not robots, so as hard as we try there is sure to be a chunk of bias in our scoring.

It is also pretty clear that wine can vary a little or a lot from bottle to bottle and occassion to occassion. On top of that ,wine develops over time and often in its own unique way depending on storage conditions or the quality of the closure. Scoring wine then is not locking it into a ranking of stone. Hopefully readers can be a little more mature than the many insecure points chasers that infest our world.

So why do we bother scoring you may ask ,given the fact it has so many failings? The simple answer is that it simply eliminates the "Did you like it better than this wine or that wine" questions!

KWFC Leading Edge Scoring System

105 - 109 These are world class wines, the best you can expect from the style, or in fact even any other style, anywhere in the world. You would walk on broken glass for a taste. Any price is cheap. Astonishingly good^{.(Less than a quarter of 1% of wines)}

100 - 104 These are outstanding wines of Trophy standard. Unique, classy and among the very best of its peers. Benchmark wines of exceptional quality^{.(Approx 1% of wines)}

95 - 99 These are wines typically of Gold medalish standard. Exceptionally well made wines with piles of varietal and regional character, and oozing with class. Technically excellent. ^{(approx 7% of wines)}

90 - 94 Silver medalish standard wines. Wines full of character, technically sound with good 'X' factor^{.(approx 16% of wines)}

85 - 89 Perhaps Bronze medalish standard wines. Sound and solid wines but lack the 'X' factor of better examples^{.(approx 30% of wines)}

80 - 84 Commercial standard wines. Pleasant and drinkable but not much too get over excited about. ^{(approx 40%ish)}

75 - 79 ^(15-15.5/20)Didnt quite make it. Wines that are drinkable but display some faults, whether being a bit hard, out of balance, little concentration or character. Well below average. ^(5%ish)

70 - 74 Avoid. These are Awful wines destined to be tipped down the sink. Faulty or well past its use by date. Not suitable for human consumption ^{(Less than 1%)}

Extra Notations

KWFC HOT PICK This is a wine, currently freely available on the market, that we see as being stunning quality and excellent value for money at its price point

KWFC CELLAR PICK This is a wine of top quality and value, currently freely available on the market, that we see as developing well in the cellar for future stunning drinking.

KWFC GO BUY NOTICE A front page "Current No Brainer Wine Buy". Wines we think should be compulsory for every man, women and child to grab. Perhaps Helen should legislate

+ When I place a 'plus sign' next to a score, it is because I feel the wine will improve and is yet to reach its peak and is packed with potential.