Are white wines systematically disadvantaged? An empirical study of <i>Wine Spectator’s</i> Top 100

Purpose This study aims to examine whether white wines face systematically tougher hurdles than red wines in elite wine rankings, focusing on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 lists. Despite the growing role of white wines in US consumption, they remain markedly underrepresented in elite rankings. The study evaluates whether this reflects editorial discretion or upstream selection dynamics related to scoring and inclusion. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses a complete panel of Top 100 lists from 1988 to 2025, matched with wine color, scores, prices, age and rank. White wine representation is compared to global production, US consumption and Wine Spectator’s review universe. Descriptive comparisons assess selection-stage representation, while fractional, ordered and binary logit models examine rank placement and access to elite tiers (Top 50, Top 20 and Top 10). Price–quality regressions and time trends assess conditional valuation and stability. Findings White wines are sharply underrepresented across all benchmarks. From 2002 to 2021, their share trails global production by 23.9% points, US consumption by 32.7% points and the review universe by 11.3% points. Representation declines with ranking selectivity, from 25.2% in the Top 100 to 11.8 % in the Top 10. Conditional models show no evidence of disadvantage in rank placement once selected. However, white wines are underrepresented in the extreme upper tail of the score distribution and are priced 9.8 % lower than comparable red wines. No systematic time trend emerges. Research limitations/implications This study focuses on a single, highly influential ranking system. While Wine Spectator provides a uniquely long and consistent time series, the extent to which similar selection-stage dynamics operate in other expert systems remains an open question. In addition, the analysis cannot directly observe the cognitive processes underlying scoring and selection decisions. Future research could extend this framework to other rankings or use experimental designs to isolate evaluative mechanisms more directly. Practical implications For producers of high-quality white wines, underrepresentation in elite rankings should be interpreted as a structural feature of expert evaluation rather than a signal of inferior quality. Retailers and distributors relying heavily on red-dominant rankings may overlook growth-oriented categories aligned with contemporary demand. Editors and ranking institutions may also benefit from reassessing evaluative frameworks to ensure continued relevance as market conditions change. Social implications Elite expert rankings play an important role in shaping visibility and recognition in cultural markets. The findings suggest that representational imbalances can persist even in procedurally neutral systems when evaluation criteria are anchored to entrenched prototypes. This has broader implications for how expertise, prestige and diversity of styles are recognized, particularly as consumer preferences evolve across demographic groups. Originality/value This study provides a long-horizon, benchmark-based analysis that separates selection from treatment effects in expert wine rankings.