When buying wine, we often encounter medals, scores, and recommendations from well-known names on the bottle. At first glance, these can provide guidance — seeing a silver medal or a 90-point score might make us think we’re dealing with an excellent wine. But in today’s wine world, where almost any wine can earn some form of recognition, it’s worth looking a little closer than just the labels.

Why are there so many medals on wine bottles?

The answer is actually quite simple: there are a lot of wine competitions.

In Hungary, dozens of wine competitions are held each year, with varying levels of expertise and expectations. Many wineries submit entries to multiple competitions, and if someone specifically wants a medal, chances are they can get one nowadays. Using a sports analogy, it’s not the same to win an Olympic gold medal, a World Championship medal, a European Championship medal, a national, county, or even a local competition prize. Not to mention medals from a weekend corporate “go-kart race.” Each should be evaluated in its own context, but they are hard to compare.

👉 Fun fact: at some competitions, 30–40% of submitted wines may receive some kind of medal.

This doesn’t mean that all medals are worthless; it simply means that the source and significance of the medal matter.

Hungarian and international wine competitions: when does a medal or recognition really count?

Of course, there are domestic and international competitions with genuine professional weight. In Hungary, for example, VinAgora or the National Wine Competition are respected, while internationally, the Decanter World Wine Awards, International Wine Challenge, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, and Mundus Vini carry weight.

At these competitions:

• Experienced professional juries evaluate the wines
• Blind tasting is conducted
• The proportion of medals awarded is lower

Recognition from such competitions can be relevant information, although even that doesn’t guarantee you’ll like the wine yourself.

👉 Fun fact: Even the most experienced wine judges can give very different scores to the same wine on the same day. Judging over a hundred wines accurately is no easy task.

Scores and famous names: what’s important to know?

Alongside medals, we increasingly see scores from international wine critics. Well-known names include James Suckling, Wine Advocate (Robert Parker), Wine Spectator, Jancis Robinson, and Decanter.

It’s worth paying attention to them because:

• They follow a consistent professional approach
• They help navigate the international wine selection
• They highlight outstanding wines and emerging wineries
• Tasting their top recommendations can be educational

However, it’s important to know that each critic has style preferences, and the same wine can receive different scores from different critics.

The scale can also be misleading — a 90-point wine might seem like a very high achievement on a 0–100 scale. For example, James Suckling uses a 100-point scale, but in practice, he almost exclusively publishes wines in the 80–100 point range:

• 95–100 points – outstanding, strong even internationally
• 92–94 points – very good quality, strong recommendation
• 90–91 points – good wine, solid quality

It’s important to note that for them, 90 points is more of an entry-level “good wine,” not the top tier.

So how should you choose wine?

In our opinion:

• Following major critics can be interesting and useful
• Tasting their top recommendations is worthwhile
• Wines scoring above 95 points are truly noteworthy
• A 99 or 100-point wine is worthy of a collection and can increase the wine’s value
• Don’t make decisions based solely on medals or scores

We’d also like to highlight the Hungarian Wine Academy’s “Winemaker of the Year” award. This is a purely professional recognition, evaluating the comprehensive work of a winemaker or winery each year. Selecting wines from an award-winning winery is almost guaranteed to avoid disappointment.

Nowadays, there are too many awards for them to be a true quality guarantee on their own. Much more telling is the wine’s style, the terroir, the winery’s consistency, and ultimately, your own taste. Many wineries now deliberately avoid placing medals and scores on their bottles, feeling that it doesn’t add to their brand or professional reputation. Some even choose not to participate in competitions at all — for various reasons, which we’ll explore in another blog post.

Choose and buy wine from us based on MOOD, EVENT, or even FOOD.