Whether or not you always agrees with its contents, one of the most widely studied wine rankings is Wine Spectator magazine's annual "Top 100 Wines in the World" listing.
Collectors shop with annotated copies in hand. Winemakers who appear on the list raise a glass to provenance. Distributors and retailers rub their hands with glee, although unfortunately, this celebration sometimes simultaneously occurs as they turn up the price dial on their sticker guns.
Cognoscenti grapple in impassioned debate over the contents of the list, or even over the concept of wine ranking itself (more on this subject in a future column). Some wine fans go so far as to contend that Spectator's criteria includes factors other than their professed "quality, value, availability and excitement."