Tasting according to the strictest rules
Tasting and editorial manager Marcus Hofschuster has an outstanding reputation as a conscientious and incorruptible wine critic. He tastes for wein.plus wines from all regions of continental Europe, always following identical quality and tasting standards.
Currently, wein.plus 2,211 offers classified wineries with professional descriptions and ratings from 141,793 Wines published. Producers and wines are updated and supplemented every weekday.
The ratings of wein.plus are among the most reliable in the industry. They are comprehensible and repeatable.
Our rules:
- Each wine is exclusively blind tasted. During the evaluation the taster never knows which wine from which producer is in the glass.
- All wines are tasted in a neutral tasting room in Erlangen to minimize distracting influences. In contrast to other wine guides, wein.plus completely excludes the evaluation of wines at trade fairs or at the producer.
- In order to secure the scores, there are regular cross-checks where wines are employed that have already been tasted before.
- There are only so many samples per day that a lot of time and rest can be guaranteed for each wine. Many wines are also tasted at least twice to take into account their development in the air.
- All tasters have many years of experience and taste full-time.
Why we award fewer points than other tasters
In recent years, we have seen a shift in the scores of the entire wine industry and tasting media. Wines that used to be rated at 85 points would now be more likely to score 90 points or more.
In contrast, we continue to use the original, stricter grading system, which allows for much better differentiation. Therefore, at wein.plus the recommended wines already start at 80 WP.
The classification of producers
One of the best producers in the worldYear after year, the wines from these estates are among the absolute best of their kind and are virtually unrivalled at the top end - regardless of vintage fluctuations. But even the simpler growths are almost without exception excellent. There are practically no weaknesses, and even mediocre wines hardly ever occur. |
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One of the best producers in the countryProducer of first-class wines, which are usually among the best of their kind, even in international comparison. Mediocre wines are very rare, real weaknesses are almost never found. Even in difficult years, first-class qualities regularly emerge here. |
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One of the best producers in the regionThe wines maintain a consistently high level and are among the best in their respective category in the area. There are hardly any weaknesses, but they can occur in problematic vintages. In good years, however, these must be compensated with particularly convincing ranging of wines in order for a company to maintain its status. Basically one can buy blind here. |
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Good producerThe qualities can vary here, but as a rule good to very good wines come from two-star producers, which can be worth looking for. |
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Simple producerIn the ideal case the wines here are clean, palatable and inexpensive, but often the wines satisfy only lower demands and also greater weaknesses can occur. |
Our drinking recommendations
Each wine evaluation contains a forecast of the expected best drinking period under normal storage conditions. However, many wines remain in good shape beyond this period. We just do not want to guarantee that they will continue to develop positively. Especially with ideal storage, however, the ability to develop can be significantly prolonged.
Our Favorite wines
In contrast to the point rating, which is intended to reflect the actual quality of a wine as neutrally and objectively as possible, the "favorite wine" is a completely subjective award for the wines that we personally like best.
Favorite wines are the finest and most interesting wines for us in their style, category and price range. We would also buy them for ourselves at any time.
To the favorite wines
Grading according to the 100-point system
wein.plus evaluates according to the internationally accepted 100-point system borrowed from the American school grading system. In our point system we use the abbreviation WP ( = wein.plus points).
What our Ratings mean
| 100 WP |
unique:Wines that can only be made differently, but not better. |
| 95-99 WP |
great:World-class wines, whose depth, complexity, character and expressiveness provide an unforgettable sensual experience. |
| 90-94 WP |
outstanding:First-class wines that are among the best of their kind. They are characterized by purity, harmony, depth and character. |
| 85-89 WP |
very good:Remarkable wines with personality, expression, complexity and depth. They deserve the attention of every demanding wine lover. |
| 80-84 WP |
good:Clean, harmonious, in the best case typical wines with their own character. In most cases they are already a real drinking pleasure. Basic wines that end up in this category already offer a quality far above average. |
| 75-79 WP |
acceptable |
| 70-74 WP |
weak |
| 60-69 WP |
insufficient |
| 50-59 WP |
unacceptable |
Team of tasters
Marcus Hofschuster
is tasting and editorial manager at wein.plus.
Already as a teenager he began to deal intensively with the topic of wine. In the following decades he acquired profound knowledge of the world of wine through travel and countless tastings.
During his time as a wine merchant in Schwabach and Nuremberg, the idea of a comprehensive guide to the best German and international wines was born, which he put into practice in 1999: he gave up the wine trade and since then has devoted himself exclusively to wein.plus tastings, which he has made a permanent fixture in European wine criticism over the past 20 years.
With his strict evaluation system, his thorough and uncompromising tasting practice and his incorruptibility, Marcus Hofschuster sets standards for serious tasting in terms of actual wine quality.
Kim Schreiber
was born in Nuremberg and grew up in Eckental-Eschenau in Central Franconia.
As a trained hotel manageress and sommeliére, she worked in various Bavarian hotels and top restaurants, including Vue Maximilian, Tantris and Rilano No.6 in Munich.
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