What we stand for

Wine portals are a dime a dozen on the internet. But none can look back on a similar history as weinfreaks.de. Since 2001, for more than 20 years, we have stood for independent, critical and incorruptible wine criticism.

For us, only the quality in the glass counts. Wine lovers therefore appreciate weinfreaks.de as a reliable guide and decision-making aid when buying wine. Wine makers always receive honest and constructive feedback from us. This creates an environment of trust from which all sides benefit.

This is by no means self-evident. “Who pays the player calls the tune” has become a widespread principle in international wine journalism. Paid reporting and bought top ratings, wine criticism financed by advertising – elsewhere common buisness. But not at weinfreaks.de. We dissociate ourselves explicitly and emphatically from the usual fulfilment journalism in wine business.

At weinfreaks.de, participation is open to all wine makers. Without fees. There is also no payment barrier for wine descriptions and ratings. That's the way it is and that's the way it will stay.

Credibility and transparency are essential prerequisites for serious wine criticism. That's why we disclose our work processes and are happy to answer your questions.

At weinfreaks.de you will not only find out the rating of a wine, but also who tasted it on which day and in which context.

To make it as easy as possible for you to follow our ratings, we list official test numbers (Germany, Austria) or lot numbers, if available. It is not uncommon that several bottlings of a wine exist, which can differ considerably in quality.

We taste all wines with the greatest possible objectivity and try to reduce subjective influences to a minimum. We give each wine the frame it needs to develop individually. Tastings in which 100 or more wines are lined up in front of a jury for “judging” do not correspond to our professional ideas of a proper and dignified handling of a cultural asset of craftsmanship.

We give each wine the attention and time it deserves. We have the patience to wait with the rating of young wines until their development has progressed so far that a serious assessment is possible.

As wine critics, we bear a high responsibility. In order to be able to fulfil this responsibility, we work according to professional standards.

Tasting wine requires good sensory skills and demands knowledge and experience. Not everyone who feels called to be a wine critic has the necessary prerequisites. Numerous publications, whether in the print media or on the internet, make us doubt considerably the suitability of their authors to be wine tasters. Seemingly seasoned tasters who are unable to identify atypical ageing or vehemently refuse to accept an infection with Brettanomyces as a serious wine defect – we have already experienced all this. Not to mention the many influencers shooting out of the ground on social media, most of them completely clueless.

Let's be clear: serious wine tasting is a demanding job that cannot be done en passant. Conscientious and careful preparation and composition of the flights, a high level of concentration and attention during the tasting as well as recognising one's own limits are just a few important requirements for a professional wine taster. At weinfreaks.de, the tasters generally have both well-founded specialist knowledge and wine experience that often spans decades.

Weinfreaks.de consequently positions itself as an independent, critical and incorruptible tasting platform. We are convinced that this is a sustainable path that not only creates lasting trust based on balanced and fair wine criticism, but also offers reliability.