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Policies for Use of Wine Spectator Ratings

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Policies for Use of Wine Spectator Ratings

I would like to reproduce Wine Spectator reviews. What are your policies governing such use?

Wholesale copying, downloading or printing of Wine Spectator Wine Tasting Notes, other than for personal use or for the purposes of promoting sales transactions, are expressly prohibited.

If we discover inaccurate or inappropriate use of our reviews, we reserve the right to pursue legal action to prevent it.

Wine Spectator does permit the use of our wine reviews under certain circumstances. Please contact us for review and possible approval at permissions@mshanken.com. If such permission is granted or a license to use is approved, then such grant or license would only be under the condition that the citations are complete, accurate and give attribution to Wine Spectator. Rating scores and tasting notes must not be altered, nor associated with any wines other than the specific wine and vintage referred to in our review.

I am a wine retailer and am a member of Wine Spectator’s Retailer Club.

  • You are not entitled to use of Wine Spectator wine reviews. Please contact us for review and possible approval at permissions@mshanken.com.

I am in the wine trade (as a retailer, restaurateur, distributor, importer, marketer or producer) but am not a member of Wine Spectator’s Retailer Club.

I am a journalist.

  • If you are writing about one specific wine, you may cite the Wine Spectator rating score and review for that wine, so long as the review has been previously published in our wine review database at WineSpectator.com. The citation must give attribution to Wine Spectator and include the tasting note, the taster’s name or initials and the date of publication or magazine issue in which it appeared.

    If you wish to cite multiple wine reviews, or cite reviews on a recurring basis, you must send your request to permissions@mshanken.com for review and approval.

All other parties

  • All other parties must contact Wine Spectator and receive explicit permission for a specific use. Please send a detailed request to permissions@mshanken.com.