The iSommelier Rating System
iSommelier uses two transparent scores to help wine lovers find the best venues and help businesses improve their wine programs.
iScore
Wine Program Quality — scored out of 100 points across 7 categories.
Wine List Quality
Most ImportantEvaluates the breadth, depth, and quality of your wine selection across regions and producers.
Food-Wine Pairing
ImportantMeasures how well your wine selection complements your menu and cuisine style.
Awards & Recognition
ImportantRecognises existing awards and accolades from respected industry bodies.
Wine Program Freshness
Contributing FactorTracks how actively you maintain and update your wine program.
Value & Accessibility
Contributing FactorAssesses pricing fairness, by-the-glass options, and accessibility across budgets.
Profile Completeness
Contributing FactorRewards venues with complete, detailed, and up-to-date profiles.
Reviews & Reputation
Contributing FactorIncorporates customer feedback and review sentiment about your wine experience.
Score Tiers
90–100
Exceptional
World-class wine program. Among the best in the country.
80–89
Outstanding
Excellent program with depth, curation, and strong service.
70–79
Excellent
Well-curated list with clear food-wine philosophy.
60–69
Strong
Solid program with room for growth in depth or curation.
0–59
Developing
Early-stage program building its identity.
Visibility Score
Digital Findability — measured across 4 dimensions, each equally weighted.
Search Engine Optimization
How well your business appears in Google search results for wine-related queries.
Generative Engine Optimization
How well AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini recommend you.
Answer Engine Optimization
Whether you appear in Google's featured snippets and answer boxes.
Voice & Visual Engine Optimization
Whether Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant recommend you by voice.
“The Visibility Score is separate from iScore because great wine programs deserve recognition regardless of their online presence — and great marketing doesn't make a wine list better.”
Badge System
Earn badges by improving your profile, wine program, and engagement. 5 badge types available.
Profile Complete
Earn by completing your profile from basic info through to a fully optimized listing.
Wine Program
Recognises the quality and depth of your wine program, from starter to virtuoso.
Engagement
Awarded for active participation — updating your listing, responding to reviews, and sharing.
iSommelier Verified
Business ownership confirmed via email domain or manual verification.
iSommelier Recommended
Elite status — requires iScore 80+ and Verified badge.
iSommelier's scoring system is designed to help restaurants align with publicly available award criteria from recognised industry bodies including AWLOTY (Australian Wine List of the Year). Our scores and recommendations are based on our interpretation of these criteria and are intended as guidance only. iSommelier is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to any awarding body. Using iSommelier does not guarantee recognition, awards, or any specific outcome from any award program. Final award decisions are made solely by the respective awarding bodies based on their own assessment processes.
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Your Feedback Matters
Help us refine these criteria. Every submission is reviewed by our team.
AI-powered insights are for guidance only and should be verified independently. iSommelier does not guarantee accuracy of AI-generated content.
Ready to improve your score?
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