This internationally most frequently used system became popular through the wine critic Robert M. Parker (*1947) from the beginning of the 1980s. It is especially common overseas and has become internationally accepted. The acceptance in the USA is also due to the fact that it corresponds to the grading system of high schools. Every wine gets 50 points from the start. A wine up to 75 points has a more or less pronounced wine defect. In the case of certain defects, this is tolerated to a lesser extent in simpler wines, but not without exception in quality wines. Only above this limit do the good qualities begin. The rarely awarded 100 points are reserved for a very few "grandiose" wines, which are also called century wines. If one considers wines as capital investments, for which there is a collector's scene, then one concentrates on top wines with at least 90 points.
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Egon Mark
Diplom-Sommelier, Weinakademiker und Weinberater, Volders (Österreich)