And for the starry-eyed consumer

Johnson's 4-star system was already in use in my 1985 edition. In those days, it was black on white printing only so instead of coloured stars, the stars got surrounded by a box. Johnson did not evaluate specific wines of a certain winery's output; often he assessed the general quality range of a whole range of wines from the whole operation, or in some cases a whole locality. The system ranges from 1 to 4 stars, with 1 star meaning "plain, everyday quality", 2 stars for "above average", 3 stars for "well known, highly reputed" and the top 4 stars for "grand, prestigious, expensive". Johnson candidly admits (2010) that the last can also infer that it might be pretentious and not worth the money. The stars (1-4 stars inclusive) can also be coloured, which means that they are "usually particularly good value in its (star) class". Thus Chateau Angelus with 4 coloured stars is a good value amongst grand, prestigious wines whilst Chateau Valandraud (****) is merely grand, prestigious and expensive amongst top St Emilion wines. Similarly the Cru Bourgeois Chateau La Tour de Mons is value for money in the above average category (two coloured stars) whilst Chateau Rauzan-Gassies ** (2nd Growth) is in the same above average category for Margaux wines (but not good value for money).

(star ratings from 2011 edition)