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The French company that has been rating restaurants for more than a century has now turned its attention to wineries and vineyards. And the wine world has hardly welcomed the new initiative with open arms, Robb Report writes.

The debate over Michelin’s new rating system has unfolded primarily on social media. Within the wine community itself, however, the reaction has been surprisingly muted, according to New York-based international wine expert Robin Kelly O’Connor.

“Honestly, people aren’t saying anything at all,” she admits. At the height of the season, O’Connor attends one, two, three and sometimes four tastings hosted by importers and distributors every day, yet she says she has not heard a single comment about the Michelin ratings.

On social media, by contrast, the discussion has been heated. Adam Lee, owner and winemaker of California’s Clarice Wine Company, called the initiative “ridiculous” and said it “should be mocked and condemned at every turn.”

Michelin has awarded restaurants one, two or three stars for more than 100 years, but over the past decade the company has dramatically expanded its scope. Guide inspectors have appeared in new regions, from South Korea to South Carolina. In 2024, Michelin launched the Michelin Keys for hotels, and now it has ventured into the world of wine.

For wineries, the company has introduced its own three-tier system: one grape for a “very good” producer, two for an “excellent” one, and three for an “exceptional” producer.

Michelin unveiled its first Bordeaux ratings on September 7 at a ceremony at Cité du Vin. Of more than 7,000 wine-producing châteaux in the region, 84 received recognition: 21 received no grapes, 38 received one, 16 received two, and nine received the top rating of three grapes.

Michelin explicitly states that the guide covers “most of the region’s most iconic appellations.” As a result, many estates from less prestigious categories were left outside the ratings, including Bordeaux AOC, Bordeaux Supérieur, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur and Entre-Deux-Mers.

The list includes Saint-Estèphe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Margaux, Pessac-Léognan, Pomerol, Saint-Émilion, as well as Sauternes and Barsac.

The biggest controversy erupted over individual ratings. Château d’Yquem, Château Cheval Blanc and Pétrus each received three grapes. Château Margaux, Château Angélus and Château Haut-Brion, however, received only two. Château Cos d’Estournel and Château Lynch-Bages received just one.

“And why did Château Le Pin get one grape?” O’Connor wonders. According to her, a bottle of Le Pin costs around $4,100 when first released, while the wine is considered one of the most sought-after in the world and regularly receives scores of 97–100 points.

“Which enthusiast was evaluating these wines?” she asks.

Michelin evaluated the wineries according to five criteria: quality of agronomy, technical mastery, distinctiveness, balance and consistency. The team included former sommeliers, wine critics and winemakers.

But this is where the main criticism emerged. Unlike Michelin’s restaurant inspectors, who work anonymously and incognito, the wine experts arranged their winery visits in advance. They tasted several vintages and inspected vineyards and production facilities.

Adam Lee questioned whether such an evaluation was even possible. As an example, he cited Château Margaux:

“Are we really being asked to believe that Michelin inspectors thoroughly and repeatedly studied these vineyards across different seasons and vintages, with enough expertise to assess the viability of the soil and the balance of the vineyard?”

In Lee’s view, properly evaluating Bordeaux’s vast vineyards requires years, constant access and deep specialized knowledge.

“Michelin has not adequately explained how its inspectors were able to do this,” he said.

Jeff Leve, publisher and editor of The Wine Cellar Insider, also describes transparency as “a huge problem.” He conducted a poll among subscribers and acquaintances across several platforms and said the results were “extremely negative.”

Leve has another major objection: Michelin rates entire estates rather than individual vintages or cuvées.

“Every wine comes from a specific place or terroir that cannot be replicated in another location. The weather conditions of the year, decisions made in the vineyard and in the cellar will never be identical from one vintage to the next,” he says.

“Wines change every year. Knowing more about a particular estate may be interesting to consumers, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect what is actually in the bottle and the glass.”

Some critics have even suggested that Michelin would be better off returning to restaurants — or, at the very least, to tires.

But the reaction has not been entirely negative. Many wineries, including some three-grape recipients, declined to comment on the results, citing the delicate nature of their relationships with Michelin. Others preferred, in their words, to “let the recognition speak for itself.”

Château Troplong Mondot of Saint-Émilion, classified as a Premier Grand Cru Classé B, took the opposite approach, issuing a press release celebrating its two-grape rating.

And amid the crisis facing the wine industry, some believe that any additional attention directed toward wine should be considered good news.

One grape, of course, is not the equivalent of 100 points. But if Michelin’s new rating system encourages consumers to pay more attention to Bordeaux’s top vineyards and buy more wine, the social-media storm could ultimately prove useful to the industry.

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