The Real Review Wine Classification of New Zealand

The Real Review Wine Classification comprises the greatest wines of Australia and New Zealand with an outstanding track record of a decade or longer. Each wine has demonstrated its quality in our blind tastings over a period of at least ten years. Many of the wines in our Classification have earned their place over several decades.

Price or resale value of a wine on the secondary market plays no role whatsoever in the assessment. Our objective is to classify those wines, which have demonstrated outstanding quality, time and again, over a long period, regardless of price.

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Classification tiers

3 Merit wines

Iconic wines of the country, wines of true provenance and exemplary track record. Fewer than 0.5% of wines produced achieve this tier. Most of these wines have received gold ribbons for recent vintages. Top vintages will score 98 points or more.

2 Merit wines

Wines that achieve gold and high silver ribbons in recent vintages, with top vintages achieving 96 points or more.

1 Merit wines

Wines that reliably achieve gold and silver ribbons in recent vintages, with top vintages achieving 95 points or more.