Frequently Asked Questions

Please click here to order a digital single back issue of Wine & Spirits you desire by choosing “Single issue.”

If you would like a print version of a back issue, please email us at [email protected] or call (888)-695-4660.

We have two subscription plans:

• Digital Edition subscription: 1 year (7 issues): $19.95; 2 years (14 issues): $31.95.
• Print and Digital Edition: 1 year (7 issues): $29.95; 2 years (14 issues): $51.95; 3 years (21 issues) $69.95.

Please contact us at [email protected]

Please contact us at [email protected]

Please click on “Edit Profile” under “Membership” after logging into your account to change your subscription status.

Your receipt should be emailed to you upon your confirmation of purchase. If you did not receive it, please contact us at [email protected].

Our Digital Edition is available a week before our print magazine is for sale on newsstands.

All wine evaluations for our tastings section are conducted under controlled, blind conditions in our own offices. There are no exceptions.

W&S selects wines for recommendation via a two-step process. First, all wines are tasted by a screening panel; the panels determine which wines stand out as being better than average for their variety and appellation. These panels, conducted by W&S staff, are composed of retailers, sommeliers, winemakers and other wine professionals whom we invite to taste with us. We draw on a diverse community of tasters to provide multiple perspectives on each wine, thereby mitigating the prejudices of any one critic.

The wines recommended by our screening panels—generally between 20 and 30 percent of those originally assessed—are then tasted blind by our critics, who score each wine and write the reviews. A second, unopened bottle of each wine is tasted during this second stage of our tasting process.

We use a 100-point scale. Wines from 80 to 85 are recommended as good examples of their variety or region, wines from 86 to 89 are highly recommended, 90 to 94 are exceptional examples of their type, and 95 or higher are superlative, rare finds.

All wines, whether or not they are recommended by our panels and scored by our critics, are published online in our searchable database. Recommended wines appear with their score and tasting note; wines not recommended by our panels appear with NR (not recommended).

All wines that earn exceptional scores (90 points or higher) appear in the tasting section of the magazine (both the print and digital editions). Wines awarded Best Buy status (recommended wines priced below the median price in their category) will also appear in the print and digital editions of the magazine.

Wines that earn exceptional scores as New Releases will appear again in a future issue as part of a “Year’s Best” section, if the magazine features such a focus during the 10 months subsequent to the initial publication.

It may take four months between the time we receive a sample and the date it is published in the magazine and/or on our website. The time frame could be longer if we receive a wine after an issue’s submission window has closed.

If you provide complete contact information on your submission form, our team will be in touch with news of recommended wines, and will share promotional opportunities available for your recommended wines.

You can also find out if your wine has been tasted and/or scored by visiting our website and clicking on the “Tasting Notes Search” tab to search for your wine.

Recently tasted wines will appear on the website within one month of the publication date of the print edition for which they were tasted.

Our critics review and score only those wines that are initially recommended by our tasting panels.

Our panelists taste more than 15,000 wines each year.

With our new protocol, we are aiming to have more focused tastings for each issue offering better context within that specific category. At the same time, we hope to continue to offer our readers reviews on newly released wines from around the world.

Our Tastings provide perspectives on specific regions and varieties. We offer this timely information to connect wine buyers with great opportunities arriving in the market. As the wine market has grown, our ability to meet these goals has been stretched. We will no longer attempt to cover the entire world within one year.

As we have narrowed our featured tastings, we are working to encourage wide participation within each category. We believe this will strengthen the perspectives we can offer to our readers as well as the value of our recommendations for wineries and importers. So, we do not require a processing fee for wines within these featured categories.

We have implemented a processing fee for new releases outside these featured categories so wineries and importers can continue to submit wines as they arrive in the market. We encourage you to be selective in the new releases you submit, and we look forward to sharing those that excite us with our readers.

We appreciate your participation in our tastings and we look forward to working with you in the months to come to bring great wines to the attention of our community of buyers.

Please refer to our editorial tasting calendar to determine when to send wines. For wines slated to be tasted within the focus categories in the upcoming issue, they must be submitted by the noted deadline.

If you are submitting new releases, you may send them at any time. You must deliver a submission form and the wines within the submission window for any particular issue to guarantee that the wines will be considered for that issue. Otherwise, they may be considered for the subsequent issue.

We request that two (2) bottles of each wine be sent with your initial submission, in case our panel questions the condition of a bottle or a cork and requests us to open a second bottle.

The $20 processing fee is per cuvée/bottling/SKU. The fee covers both bottles that we request.

Before submitting wines to our tasting department, you must first complete a digital submission form. We no longer accept emailed or printed submission forms.

We do not have an import license and cannot be responsible for clearing wines through customs. All samples from outside the US must be sent through a licensed US importer.

The critics at Wine & Spirits magazine have curated a list of focused tastings based on categories that have received high recommendation rates in the recent past or have shown growth in the current global wine market. We are not intending to exclude wines, which is why we are holding new release tastings.

You may submit any wines from any region at any time. Wines falling outside the featured category require a $20 processing fee. If, for example, our featured category is Barossa shiraz, and you would like to submit a Barossa grenache, that grenache submission would require a processing fee.

Yes, if they fall under the following criteria: It is within a focus category for the issue, it is currently on the market and we have not tasted it before. Non-vintage sparkling and fortified wines may be re-submitted once a year. Vintage Champagnes may be re-submitted for our annual Champagne assessments by house and grower, even if they have been previously tasted, as long as they are currently available in the market.

That is a decision between the importer and winemaker on how quickly you’d like to see a review. Wines that earn exceptional ratings in the new release tastings will appear again in print later that same year if we cover the category in a focus tasting.

You will receive a confirmation of submission and payment from [email protected] If you do not find this confirmation in your inbox, please check your spam folder. We do not send confirmation of delivery due to the amount of wine we receive. You may confirm with your shipper or e-mail us directly at the addresses below.

After tastings for an issue are completed and scores have been recorded, you may purchase a label reproduction (to be featured along with your review in our print edition) through our sales team. Label purchases are completely voluntary and advertising decisions have no effect on scores or reviews.

Please reach out to the tastings department at Wine & Spirits—for imported wines, reach out to [email protected]; for domestic wines at [email protected].

Due to the sheer volume of samples we receive, our staff cannot confirm receipt of samples. Please contact your shipper to obtain confirmation of delivery.

It may take four to six months between the time we receive a sample and the date it is published in the magazine and/or on our website. The time frame could be longer if the wine is received past an issue’s deadline or if the wine falls outside of our editorial focus for that issue.

Our editorial staff does not contact importers or producers to report tasting results. To find out if your wine has been tasted and/or scored, visit our “Wine Search” section to search for your wine.

Recently tasted wines will appear on the website within one month of the publication date of the print edition for which they were tasted.

After tastings for an issue are completed and scores have been recorded, you may purchase a label reproduction (to be featured along with your review in our print edition) through our marketing team. Label purchases are completely voluntary and advertising decisions have no affect on scores or reviews.

Our editorial calendar follows our wine submission calendar.

After you log in, you may change your information in “Edit Profile” under “Membership” on the navigation bar.

Please see our Marketing & Advertising page where you will find contact information for our Advertising team.

Please contact Louise Nightingale for any information in regards to our media kit and advertising opportunities.

Copies of our press releases are posted on our website. If you would like a physical copy, please contact Louise Nightingale.

Please check our Jobs page for the latest postings.

Please check our Jobs page for the latest postings.