Choosing a wine: between expert advice and personal preferences

Every year, a multitude of buying guides emerge with a clear objective: to guide consumers toward wines offering the best value for money or the most remarkable in their category. Some highlight exceptional estates or the gems of an appellation, while others target the best deals in mass retail. Their strength? A varied approach and presentation. 

Some guides focus on tasting notes on a specific vintage, others on producers and estates as a whole. The methods also differ: here, seasoned experts taste and rate the wines; there, a jury of knowledgeable amateurs evaluates blindly. One thing is certain: to ensure their credibility, these tastings must be impartial and rigorous. 

CAN WE TRUST THEM?

The guides only judge samples submitted by producers, a potential bias since the latter have every incentive to submit their best vintage. Nevertheless, the tastings are conducted seriously, and the experts' opinions remain a valuable reference. Subjectivity remains, however: each taster has their own preferences, and no guide can claim to be exhaustive. A wine missing from the rankings isn't necessarily bad, but a great wine always ends up being noticed. 

Despite these nuances, buying guides remain essential tools. They offer a unique overview of market trends, highlight the emergence of new talent, and decipher developments in the wine world. 

SOME ESSENTIAL GUIDES

• The Hachette Wine Guide: with more than 10,000 wines tasted blind by a jury of professionals and winemakers, this guide awards up to three stars to the best bottles.
• The great guide to French wines Bettane & Desseauve: produced by two emblematic figures in the world of wine, this guide selects 9,000 wines from 50,000 tasted, with a rating system out of 20 and a classification of the estates by stars.
• The guide to the best wines of France: the fruit of the work of journalists from the Revue du Vin de France, this guide lists 1,000 estates and offers detailed commentaries throughout the year.
• The guide to the best wines at low prices: still published by the Revue du Vin de France, it lists 1,500 affordable wines, between 3 and 20 euros.
• The Gault & Millau wine guide: now available exclusively online, it remains a reference for enthusiasts.
• The guide for wine lovers: designed by Alain Marty, it is based on the opinions of passionate consumers who evaluate more than 3,000 wines.
• International Wine Guide: Published by Hachette, this guide is the result of a competition organized by the Union of French Oenologists and is aimed at international wine lovers. 

THE POWER OF TASTING

Reading a guide is good. Tasting is better! Nothing replaces the sensory experience to understand a wine. Where to taste?

• Trade fairs and open days for appellations allow you to meet the best producers.
• Wine merchants and traders regularly organize tastings for their customers.
• Wine clubs, perfect for learning and refining your palate.
• Visits to producers are enriching but sometimes intimidating if you don't want to buy. 

Tip: Always write down your impressions after a tasting. This will help you refine your tastes and better leverage the advice of experts... whether they are sommeliers, passionate friends, or specialized guides. 

Buying guides are guidelines, but your palate remains your best judge!