Does Your Wine have the X-Factor?

Wine Spectator has those in the wine world holding their breaths for the unveiling of the 2013 Top 100 Ratings. Why the tension? Because to receive high points from one of the most widely-read magazines in the industry means a great leap in sales ad prestige for many wineries. Whether or not the system of points and ratings is something that we all agree upon, it is clear they matter in an important way.

In fact, more than a few lesser-known wines have proven that, by earning a valuable high rating from Wine Spectator, the course of the winery's name and sales sees incredible success even for years afterward.

This year, Wine Spectator is taking its time to sip from its glasses to reveal the Top 100 drop by drop. Today, we've arrived at the final unveiling. Wines were announced beginning with the tenth place.

The ratings have been good news for Italy, so far. Barolo Monprivato 2008 by Giuseppe Mascarello&Figlio took the spot for number 6. Last year, the highest-rated Italian wine took 9th place, and it was from Tuscany: Brunello di Montalcino 2007 by Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona. The coveted first place prize has been dominated in the past by American and French labels.

This year marks a special anniversary of Wine Spectator, the 25th year of its Top 100 classifications, in which over 20 thousand wines from 14 different countries were tasted, tested, and rated. That's a staggering amount of wine compared to fifteen years ago in 1998, when just over three thousand wines were presented for blind tasting.

What's new for 2013? Tasters are giving more importance to the "X-Factor" they find in a wine: the emotions that a wine excites beyond the historically-determining aspects of quality and value. In addition, this year the entire list will be viewable by the public on Wine Spectator's site in an interactive format on Monday, November 18 until the 24.