About Wine Orbit
Wine Orbit is a bi-monthly, subscription-only publication featuring reviews of New Zealand wines and wines of the world. Its aim is to provide you with independent, extensive and detailed wine reviews, written by a senior wine judge. In each issue there are themes focusing on a particular variety, style and/or region as well as new releases and wines of interest. Also included are tasting notes from wine events (including trade tastings, sponsored trips etc.) in the ‘Around the Orbit’ section. Wine Orbit is an advertising-free publication; instead, it charges submission fee (NZ$34) to each wine entered into formal tastings.
About Tasting and Scoring
All wines are tasted blind by Sam Kim in his home office, and the notes are solely written by him unless otherwise stated. Each wine is rated out of 20-points then converted to 100-point and five-star scales – two of the most effective and easy to understand rating systems. Wines are tasted using Riedel Ouverture Magnum and Riedel Ouverture White Wine glasses. Wine Orbit is about highlighting wine excellence, therefore, wines scoring below 81 points (3.5 stars) are not published.
Ratings
| 5 Star Scale | 100 pt Scale | |
| 5 Star | 96 - 100 | Exceptional quality exhibiting the highest level of concentration and complexity. |
| 5 Star | 93 - 95 | Outstanding quality showing varietal purity and exemplifying regional type. |
| 4 1/2 Star | 89 - 92 | Excellent quality showing a high level of concentration and balance. |
| 4 Star | 85 - 88 | Very good quality displaying attractive flavours and good balance. |
| 3 1/2 Star | 81-84 | Good quality, easy drinking with straightforward flavours. |
| 3 Star | 77 - 80 | Average quality, pleasant, satisfactory. |
Prices
Prices quoted are supplied by the entrant and are an indication only as they can vary considerably depending on the location, the type of promotion, etc. All prices are in $NZ.
‘At its best’
This indicates my conservative estimate of the period a wine will be drinking at its best. It is quite possible the wine will continue to improve beyond the suggested period, or hold at its peak for longer than estimated.