Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Industry vs. Non Industry & The Internet

One of the most unique aspects of the just closed "Electronic Wine Survey" is the association of the respondents to the wine and food industry. Of the 266 respondents, fully 54% identify themselves as working in, producing a product for, or publishing information related to the wine or food industries. I don't know if other blogs have this kind of high percentage of industry folks, but I doubt it's too many.

This begs the question, how is the relationship with the Internet and wine different for industry-associated folks than those not associated with the industry.

To start with, those associated with the industry are far more interested in looking to the Internet for Wine Business Information than those not associated with it. 82% of industry associated respondents said they look to the Internet for wine business news, while only 30% of those not identified with the wine industry only "business news" as what they look to the Internet for. What do non-industry associated respondents want from the Internet? Wine Reviews. 82% of these respondents cited wine reviews as what they look for on the Internet. This makes perfect sense. On the other hand, it means I'm not serving half those who come to this blog.

It also turns out that folks associated with the industry show more appreciation for wine information published in print publications than non-industry respondents do, while non-industry respondents have greater respect for Internet-based wine information. This strikes me as intuitively rational given the relative importance print publications maintain in helping to sell and market wines.

As for buyng wine online, only 56% of industry-related respondents say they purchase wine online, while 66% of non-industry respondents claim to purchase wine online.

Non industry respondents also buy more wine on-line. 20% of this group reported buying 50% or more of their wine from online sources, while industry only 10% of industry respondents reported buying 50% of their wine online.

And it turns out that when industry respondents do buy wine online they are FAR more likely to buy their wine from a retail wine website than non-industry respondents. Industry folks reported buying from retailer web sites 42% of the time vs 27% of the time from winery websites. Non industry respondents buy from retailer and winery websites in equal amounts.

Another interesting discovery about the differences between industry-associated respondents and non-industry respondents is the number of different websites they buy wine from. Non-industry associated respondents buy wine from a wider variety of websites. 28% of non-industry associated respondents said they purchased wine from 5 or more websites in the past twelve months while only 15% of industry-related respondents were so promiscuous in their online buying habits. I can't quite figure out why this would be other than perhaps prejudice of association. It has been suggested that industry-related respondents likely have unique access to wines that are obtained off line. It may have something to do with the fact that industry-associated folks are somewhat less likely to actually buy wine online.

Now, here is one of the findings I found MOST interesting. When considering the downside of online wine buying, it appears that folks in the wine industry have more trouble navigating websites. 33% of industry respondents had complaints with online wine site navigation while only 23% of non-industry members had the same complaint. Meanwhile, 13% of industry respondents had complaints about checkout difficulties while only 7% of non-industry respondents had the same complaint.

What exactly does this mean? I suppose you could say they are less accustomed to buying wine online and therefore perhaps less familiar with the process. But let's face it, it's not brain surgery.

Finally, there is this nugget. Non-wine industry respondents make more money than industry members. Hmmm!?!

RECAP:
--Industry Respondents (IR) Look to the Net for Business News
--Non Industry Respondents (NIR) Look to the Net for Wine Reviews

--IR Have More Appreciation for Printed Wine News than NIR

--NIR Purchase More Wine On-line Than IR

--NIR Purchase a Larger Percentage of Their Wine On-line

--IR Are Much More Likely To buy From On-line Retailers than NIR

--NIR Use A Wider Variety of Websites To Procure Their Wines than NIR Do

--IR Have More Difficulty Navigating Wine Websites Than NIR Do.

--NIR Make More Money Than IR

 

What Does It All Mean?

In the next few posts I want to examine the results of the "Electronic Wine" Survey. But in this first post I'd like to look at the overall results. There are some interesting findings when you start parsing the results, but for now let's look at the overall findings.

You can see the overall results of the 266 respondents yourself BY CLICKING HERE.

First and foremost, take note of the fact that nearly everyone that took the survey says they use the Internet to educate themselves about wine. Stunned? Good. I hope not. What they say they use it for is interesting however.While 45% say they use the Internet for "Wine Pricing Information", only 25% say they use the Internet for "Purchasing Advise". Meanwhile, 68% say they they are most likely use the Internet for finding "Wine Reviews". Now, combine this information with the fact that fully 40% of the respondents said they DO NOT use the Internet for wine buying. Perhaps this question was not phrased correctly. But perhaps it means lots of people look use the Internet for wine buying the same way they use it for car buying: They do the research on-line, then buy offline.

I must say, I'm surprised by that 40% saying they don't use the Internet for wine buying. This tells me that there is LOTS of room for growth in the on-line buying world.

Another interesting finding is how respondents view the utility of on-line wine information vs. print wine information. In general, respondents find the two sources similar in quality over a variety of categories. EXCEPT in the area of "Wine Pricing Information" and "Basic Wine Information". By far, respondents view wine pricing information better on the Internet than in print publications. This should be no surprise thanks in large part to folks like Wine Searcher and Snooth and others. But I was surprised to see the Internet get the nod in a significant way over print publications when it comes to "Basic Wine Information". Perhaps it's just the huge amount of Basic Wine Information that exists on the Internet that gives this venue the nod over print.

Now here's something VERY interesting: 60% of respondents said they purchase no more than 10% of their wine on the Internet. Maybe it's just my own experience that makes this a surprise to me. In our house upwards of 80% is purchased on-line. Still, I would have expected more. Again, this tells me there is huge potential for growth in on-line wine sales. And, by the way, take note that it's wine retailers that get a significantly higher percentage of on-line sales over winery websites.

What's wrong with the on-line buying experience. Clearly it's a lack of accessibility. Almost half the respondents cited "Shipping Not Available in My State" as the biggest problem with on-line wine shopping". What does this mean? Combined with the fact that more folks say they buy from on-line retailers than wineries, it means I need to work harder on behalf of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association to get more states into the game and thereby more consumers into the game.

Finally, who are the respondents? Well, we tend to be well-educated males between 40 and 60 years of age who make decent money. Who is surprised?

More interesting analysis coming. For now, take a look at the basic results HERE.

Take The Electronic Wine Survey...It's Closing Soon

The "ELECTRONIC WINE" Survey will close  on Monday morning, April 28.

Tell us about you and wine online before it's too late.

UPDATE:
We're closed! THANK YOU To all that took survey!

 

Give Me More Data!

If you've not taken the ELECTRONIC WINE SURVEY yet I urge you to. I want to get a really good sample of readers to make sure the results are meaningful.

The survey on your relationship with wine and the Internet will take no more than 3 minutes. Your response are 100% confidential.

Thanks so much!

Tom...

Electronic Wine: Take The Survey

What's your relationship to wine on the Internet?
Are you a buyer?
A big buyer?
A reader?
A student of wine using the net?

These are the things I'm curious about when it comes to Fermentation readers and that's why I've created...

THE ELECTRONIC WINE SURVEY

It's a simple, quick survey that will give an indication of just how deep Fermentation readers are into the world of wine on the Internet as well as give an indication of their feelings about the way the Internet delivers wine information and access to wine.

So please...

TAKE THE SURVEY BY CLICKING HERE!!

The results will be posted here for all to see when the survey is closed and your responses are 100% Confidential.

Thanks you,
Tom.....

Who Trusts Wine Bloggers?

This blog does not publish reviews of wines. That fact makes this blog fairly unusual in the world of wine blogs as many, if not most, do indeed review wines.

It's for this reason that I find the following results of the just finished survey conducted of readers of this wine blog most interesting:

Q. Have you ever purchased a wine after seeing it reviewed on a wine blog?

YES: 68%
NO 32%

If you are a wine blogger and review wines on your blog, consider these findings seriously.

If you are a winery that utilizes 3rd Party endorsements as a method of marketing, consider these results seriously.

...............Are you finished considering these findings?

Good. It shouldn't have taken too long to understand the implications.

Now, given that most wine bloggers are not "professional" wine critics, you should probably consider this question: Why are folks SO WILLING to take the advice of a wine blogger who is quite likely to have no professional experience evaluating wines for the consumer?

The answer clearly has something to do with trust. So consider the answer to this question that also appeared on our recently completed survey of FERMENTATION readers:

Q. Generally, how trustworthy do you believe the information is that you read on wine blogs?

Extremely Trustworthy: 9%
As Trustworthy As Any Other Medium: 85%
It's Not Very Trustworthy: 6%

There is a lot going on in this response that needs to be considered and I suspect I'll be considering them in the future. But for the moment its enough to point out, in conjunction with these results, that the number of readers of wine blogs is growing and there is no reason to believe that each new reader of wine blogs will be substantially different from those that are reading wine blogs now.

Wine Blog Survey Ending Today

The current survey on wine blogs and how they are used will close down today at 5pm.

If you have not yet taken the survey, I urge you to so.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE WINE BLOG SURVEY

The results will be posted as soon as possible.

Thanks very much to those who have participated.

Go Ahead And Do It!

Now's as good a time as any!

Go ahead. do it

Take the Survey on How and Why Wine Blogs Are Read

The survey is only a few questions long and shouldn't take more than two or three minutes max. Your answers and identity are strictly confidential.

We'll be publishing the results of the survey next week.

Thanks very much in advance!!

Survey: The Meaning of Wine Blogs

Why do you like wine blogs? Do you like them?

How do you read them? What do you look for in a wine blog?

I've been wondering what you all think of wine blogs in general and how you use them. So I thought I'd ask...in the form of a survey.

Your identity and your responses to "THE MEANING OF WINE BLOGS" survey is confidential. So, have at it. Let me know what wine blogs mean to you!

To fill out the "MEANING OF WINE BLOGS survey...

CLICK HERE

Wine Ratings: Who Loves Them...Who Doesn't?

Anyone who doubts the power of numerical wine ratings, particularly the 100 Point system, just isn't living in the same world as me. Let me explain what I, a wine marketer, see when I look at numerical ratings:

1. The opportunity to become an overnight success with a single rating from the right reviewer

2. The opportunity to have my entire brand dismissed with a single wrathing from the wrong reviewer.

3. The chance to sell out 1000s of cases of wine on the back of one good rating and little marketing.

4. An enormous incentive to make a wine that mimics those that get high ratings.

5. The most powerful sales tool in the history of winemaking, more important even than the quality of the wine.

In our recent "Tough Wine Questions" survey here at Fermentation I asked three questions about numerical wine rating. In the first question I wanted to know what people thought of the utility of wine ratings in terms of choosing a wine. The responses were split down the middle with 51% saying they are helpful in choosing a wine and 49% saying they are of no use.

WOW.

What's really interesting is what happens when we examine those who thought them useless. These people are 1) far more likely to believe numerical ratings are HURTING the wine industry, more likely to believe numerical ratings promote "sameness" in wine styles and...importantly...much more likely to work in or around the wine industry.

It may be that by being in the wine industry you are more likely to have been affected in some way by a bad review and this taints your view of the utility and effect of numerical wine ratings. But I think there might be more to it than that.

WHY THE INDUSTRY IS SKEPTICAL OF RATINGS
First, it's likely that if you are in the industry or around wine a lot or drink a lot of wine you simply don't need reviews to help you find a wine. Maybe you even resent their ubiquity. I also am convinced there is a genuine concern that numerical wine ratings are promoting greater sameness of style among wines from various terroirs and varietals. When we asked if numerical wine ratings promote "sameness" in wine 78% of respondents said yes. Of those who find ratings of no use in choosing a wine, 85% said it promotes sameness. It's no surprise that those who said ratings promote sameness in wine styles were more likely to say the wine industry was hurt by ratings.

As with the issue of high alcohols in wine there appears to be a concern INSIDE the wine industry over the utility and effect of numerical wine ratings. Of those who identified themselves as not being in the wine industry, they were much more likely to think ratings were helpful in choosing a wine and that ratings made wine more accessible.

I don't think there is any question that numerical wine ratings make wine more accessible to more people. Folks that just want a good wine stare up at a shelf of over 50 cabernets, 50 chards and hundreds of other wines all on the same shelf. Which to buy? That 90 point Pinot must be good.

I"LL KEEP USING RATINGS
Will the skepticism of the industry filter down to the buying public? Not in my lifetime. What's more, I'll continue to use numerical wine ratings to help promote the wines of Wark Communications clients, even though I'm one of those folks who think they hurt the creativity and diversity in the wine industry. Not using these scores would simply be letting my clients down given their huge potential to gain customers from them.

Who Wants High Alcohol Wines?

By my reckoning and perspective, both personal and from within the industry, the biggest issue facing the wine business is the emergence of high alcohol wines as the norm.

This was why I included two questions about them this blogs recent "Tough Wine Questions" survey. I could, and probably should, have included more questions on the the topic.

If it's not clear, I should spell out my general objections to the trend that is higher and higher alcohol levels in wines.

1. I can't drink as much wine when the alcohol level is 14.5%
2. Hi brix (leading to high alcohol) appears to diminish the more interesting nuances in wines
3. Hi brix (leading to high alcohol) appears to diminish terroir characteristics in wine
4. Hi brix (leading to high alcohol)  seems to come with higher pH which  reduces aging potential.

I don't think it's worth discussing whether or not alcohols have risen over the past decade or so. It's a objective fact. Survey takers realized this too as 86.1% said they have seen the increase.

Yet, it seems my objection to high alcohol wines is a minority view. Of those taking the survey who were asked to identify how they react to these wines, 54% said they "didn't mind" or they "liked" high alcohol wines. Thirty-six percent of respondents said their either "don't like" or "don't buy" high alcohol wines. As a side note, 8% of respondents said their best description of how they react to high alcohol wines is "they are hurting the wine industry".

It is very interesting to note that those who seem to approve or not mind higher alcohol wines are also much more forgiving of numerical wine ratings than the average survey taker. They are more likely to believe numerical ratings are helpful in choosing a wine to buy and that numerical ratings are making wine more accessible to more people.

One of the common reasons given for the rise of higher alcohol wines is that high alcohol tends to be associated with the kinds of bigger, more extracted wines embraced by wine critics.

There are in fact a number of reason that conspire to bring more high alcohol wines to market today.

1. More efficient yeasts
2. New clones
3. Better canopy management
4. Fewer virused vines in the vineyard

These reasons however don't address the change in style that has overcome the industry and why. This is a complicated matter that has much to do with ratings, true and false perceptions of why high ratings are given to high extract wines, the way wine is sold at retail, and the experiences of the newer wine drinkers that came into the fold in the 1990s.

Yet there is no question that those in the industry do seem to be sparking a backlash against high alcohol wines. There is certainly anecdotal evidence found in various articles on the subject and in talking to those in the industry.

And in the survey just ended here, those who identified themselves as "in the wine industry" are much more likely to say that they don't like or don't buy high alcohol wines. They are also more likely to say that wine ratings are of no use in helping to choose a wine and that numerical ratings hurt the wine industry.

The question is will this industry trend that seems to be moving against high alcohol wines spill
over into the minds of the consumer. I have no good answer for this question.

"OLD VINES": A Term In Need of A Meaning

What does it mean when you see the term "Old Vine" on a wine bottle? The answer is, nothing you can count on. It falls into the same category as the term "Reserve". "Old Vine" is a term you often see on the front of the wine label, yet unlike the varietal, appellation and vintage, the government plays no role in dictating what that term should mean.

Should it?

The question we asked in our latest survey of Fermentation readers was: The criteria for labeling a wine "Old Vine" should be?

In addition to offering the choices of 20, 40, 60, 80 or 100 for the age of the vine we also let folks choose "None, there should be no criteria".

Clearly this question should have been broken up into to questions, first asking if the govt. should regulate the use of the term, then asking what criteria should be used.

Nine Percent of respondents said there should be no criteria for the use of the term. I'm not one of the 9%. I think there should be a criteria for putting the term "Old Vine" on your bottle simply because it implies the wine is special in some way that others aren't. You could say the same about the term "reserve", but you could not so easily verify what it is about a "reserve" wine that made it special without laying down a whole slew of regulations and dictates on who the wine was made. With old vines, you'd need only say how old the vines must be to be considered "old" and what percent of the wine must contain juice from those older vines.

For the record, I'd go with the vines must be 80 years old and the wine must be 100% from these Old Vines.

"But this is an arbitrary age," you say. Indeed it is. And that's one of the real mysteries of "old vine" wines. Although most folks attribute something special to their character, there really is no solid determination of what that special quality in the wine really is.

Are they more intense?
Are they spicier?
Are they more balanced?

I don't know. But, I should know that they are made from older vines.

What's interesting about "old vine" vineyards in California that tend to be at least4 60 years old is that they seem likely to be field blends with Zinfandel carrying most of the load. This is particularly true of vineyards that have been in the ground for more than 80 years. This is not so much the case with 40 years old vines and certainly not the case with 20 year old vines.

And by the way, 13% of respondents in the survey said the vines should need to be only 20 years old to be called "old vine". These folks tended to be overwhelmingly male, more educated, more likely to not mind high alcohol wines and much more likely to attribute the meaning of terroir to simply soil characteristics. Interesting, but I don't know what that means.

What I do know is that it is very unlikely to seen any regulations on the term "old vine" appear any time soon. The outcry against regulating the term would be HUGE. All those folks that own vineyards or buy grapes from vineyards that are about 30 years old and call them old vines would protest. They'd claim any requirements regarding age are arbitrary. And they'd be right.

ANSWERS To Tough Wine Questions

The recent Fermentation Survey on "Tough Wine Questions" was issued to to look at questions about wine that interest me as a marketer. In this post I want to deliver an overall look at what the 238 folks who answered the survey had to say.

ON TERROIR
For the avid wine drinker and wine enthusiast the question of Terroir looms large. Without it there really is little meaning to our relationship with wine since if all wine is the same, no matter where it is grown, well, then who cares.

I asked you to identify which statement best describes your own understanding of the concept of terroir. 70% said:

"The influence that the entire natural environment (soil, climate, slope, rain, etc) has on the character of a wine."

This is a New World concept of terroir insofar as it tends to give equal weight to both climate and soil. In Europe you are far more likely to see soils given more credit for the character of the wine. Also, you will see deference given to local and regional winemaking traditions in any descriptions of terroir. These two descriptions of terroir were given by 11% of respondents respectively.

OLD VINES
In my mind, the term "Old Vine" is among the most abused and misunderstood terms you will ever see on a label. What constitutes "old vines" and what character do they add to a wine? I didn't examine the latter, but only the former in this survey when I asked what criteria should exist for labeling a wine "Old Vine?"

38% said the vines should be 40 years or older, while 28% said 60 years or older. Upwards of 78% or respondents believed the vines producing the grapes for a wine labeled "Old Vine" should be older than 40 years.

HIGH ALCOHOL WINES
There is a debate in the industry right now as to whether the current concern often expressed in the wine industry over higher and higher alcohol wines will eventually trickle down to the consumer who will then reject them. It's definitely an open question. In this survey I wanted to know how Fermentation readers responded to high alcohol wines.

You are aware of them. Over 80% of you say that wines have drifted up in alcohol content over the past few years. However, over 50% of you say you either "Don't Mind" them or "Like them". 35% of you say you react to these wines either by not liking them or by not buying them.  Another 7% of you think high alcohol wines are hurting the wine industry.

WINE RATINGS
There is a significant split among Fermentation Readers over the utility and impact of numerical wine ratings. Half say they are useful in helping choose a wine to buy, while half say they are of no value. Half of you say they are hurting the wine industry while half say they are making wine more accessible to more people, something that is clearly beneficial to the wine wine industry.

Now here's something very interesting: Nearly 80% of respondents believe that numerical wine ratings promote sameness in wine. Less than 1% of respondents believe numerical wine ratings promote a diversity of style in wine.

DEMOGRAPHICS
You are overwhelmingly male. You are likely by a margin of over 80% to have an undergraduate college degree or better. You are likely to be middle aged. You probably live on the East or West coast. Well over half of you have an annual household income of $100K and..... more than half of you work in the wine industry or an industry that serves the wine industry in some capacity.

I have more to say on these findings. There are some very interesting nuggets when you break down the questions and parse them. They also give rise to some very interesting questions, which I will be raising in later posts.

In the mean time, you can view the results of the Survey HERE.

"Tough Wine Questions" Survey Ending Today

The current survey underway, "The Tough Wine Questions", will close tonight at 9pm PST.

If you've not already taken the survey I would be most pleased if you did. It won't take more than 3 or 4 mintues.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE "TOUGH WINE QUESTIONS SURVEY

Tough Question: A Wine Survey

It's Survey Time at Fermentation. This time we tackle THE TOUGH WINE QUESTIONS (aka..the ones that keep the geeks talking)

You Can Take the Survey Here

Thanks in Advance. We'll be posting the results here immediately after it closes.

Change the world...one sip at a time

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Don't forget to take the Fermentation Survey!
CLICK HERE to take the survey...All I ask is three minutes of your day.
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Meet the new Fermentation Sponsor:

I know...it's a tease. You'll just have to click on the ad and find out who wants you to change the world one sip at a time. These aren't just good folks, they are wonderful winemakers. I opened a bottle of their 2000 Pinot two nights ago and it was like sipping of liquid cherry silk.

Sponsors help this blog keep at it. So thank them by at least clicking on their ad above or over there on the left.and checking out their world.

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Don't forget to take the Fermentation Survey!
CLICK HERE to take the survey...All I ask is three minutes of your day.
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Survey: The Tough Wine Questions"

Writing a wine blog day in and day out you tend to find reason to contemplate the "tough questions" associated with wine. I know my own feelings on these issues. But I want to know yours!

Take the FERMENTATION'S "TOUGH WINE QUESTIONS" SURVEY

It's very short and won't take more than three or four minutes. Or, if you are a deep thinker, it might take you up to five minutes.

We will post the results of the "TOUGH WINE QUESTIONS" Survey right here at Fermentations.

Thank you in advance for participating. It should be interesting.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE "TOUGH WINE QUESTIONS" SURVEY.

The Wine Experimentation Campaign

I had  chance to very briefly chat with Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon the other day. In the midst of a short conversation he explained his belief that we live in a "post-varietal" world.

This would put him in line with Appellation America (a Wark Communications client) publisher Roger Dial who also believes the future of North American wine culture is terroir driven.

This idea that we are moving toward a terroir-driven understanding of wine in America doesn't necessarily conflict with the results of our most recent survey here at Fermentation. However, it doesn't necessarily speak to the importance of the producers in the minds of consumers.

Asked which factor among Producer, Varietal, Region and Label Appearance is most important in deciding  among wines $30 or more you've never tried before, fully 71% of respondents identified the Producer.

I wonder to what extent this overwhelming endorsement of the producer has to do with the amazing proliferation of new labels that have hit the market in recent years. With so much to choose from, many consumers simply return to what they know. This suggests that there is good reason to push consumers to experiment if the goal is to broaden the consumers' experience, or even if it is to ask them to branch out and try wines from emerging wine regions.

While I agree with both Grahm and Dial that we are at the starting line of a movement that will lead more consumers to investigate new regions and hence new wines and new styles of wines, I'm convinced that the idea of EXPERIMENTATION must be sold to consumer. A "move beyond the ordinary" campaign of some sort, either at a low key or well-structured way, is probably necessary to hasten a movement toward region as the defining concept that motivates wine drinkers, rather than brand or varietal.

Why You Buy: Survey Results

So here's what I wanted to know: What prompts you to buy a  wine you've never had before given only the information on the bottle?

The answer? In general, you told me that the producer and the varietal hold equal sway over your purchasing decisions. When asked "In general, and all else being equal, what is the most important factor in your decision to buy a wine you've never tried previously," 33% said producer and 31% said varietal.

The price of the wine, however, is an important factor in your decision making. When considering buying a wine that is $15 or less, upwards of 42% said Varietal is the most important factor in your buying decision.

Yet, once you start contemplating wines over $15 a bottle, everything changes. For wines costing $15 to $30 a bottle  52% of you said the producer is the most important factor. For wines over $30 per bottle fully 71% said the producer was the most important factor in your decision to buy a wine you'd never had.

My take on the seeming power of the producer to prompt purchases by Fermentation readers (who tend to be fairly savvy wine buyers) suggests a certain power in branding, in creating a bond between the market and the maker. It's been suggested that brand loyalty is a think of the past. No.

I admit I was hoping that "Region" would be a more important factor to more of you. In fact, to telegraph that hope I did ask this question: "Are you willing to pay more for wines simply because they are from a particular region?" Sixty Six percent of you said, "yes."....Good for you!

Yet it appears there is little demographic difference between those who would pay more for wine based on the region it came from an those who would not. However, those who would pay more for wine based on region tend to describe themselves as having "expert" wine knowledge a twice the rate that those who won't pay more.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Roger Dial, publisher of Appellation America, describes "region" as the most obvious element of wine for people to explore once they have investigated the varietal.

"After you taste taste and understand the 20 or 30 varietals that make up 99% of the wine, the next step up the educational ladder is region," says Dial. "You might want to explore all those producers that make merlot, but that's an impossible process. It's much easier to start to distinguish between merlots from Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Italy, Chile and Washington State."

You can look at the Results of the "Why You Buy" Fermentation Survey by clicking HERE

SURVEY: Why did you buy that wine?

Why did you buy that wine?

Why did you pay more for this wine?

These are questions that wine markers want answers to. The answers hit on your expectations, experiences and comfort level with wine. And I'm curious about those thing and how they relate to the fine readers of FERMENTATION.

So...It's survey Time Again.

TAKE THE FERMENTATION WINE PURCHASING DECISIONS SURVEY.

Your responses are 100% confidential. I don't know who you are and no one else will know who you are.

Of course I'll be posting the results for all to see. Thank you in advance!!

Fermentation Wine Blog Housekeeping

Some Friday Fermentation Housekeeping and Public Service Messages...

1. SUBSCRIBE TO FERMENTATION
It's easy as a chilled Chardonnay to subscribe to the FERMENTATION RSS Feed. Over there on the right side of this page you see a number of one touch RSS Feed subscription buttons. Click on the RSS Reader that you use (MyYahoo, Bloglines, Newsgator, etc) and voila, you can easily see what's being discussed here and at your other favorite blogs at your one-stop blog reader

2. ONE CLICK IS ALL WE ASK
The advertisers at FERMENTATION help tremendously in keeping this site going. Help me thank them. Choose just one of the advertisers on this page, click their ad and see what they have to offer or read what they have to say. One click is all we ask.

3. SEND AN EVENTFUL MESSAGE
Part of a great wine event? Know of a great wine event? Shoot me an email and we'll see what we can do to get the word out here at Fermentation. Email: tom@warkcommunications.com

4. WINE REVIEWING: I DON'T
For those very kind wineries out there that have sent me samples to review...you need to know I don't review wine. I leave that to those with more chutzpah and palate than me. Don't get me wrong, I drink the stuff. But that's not a good enough reason for sending me samples to review. However, if you are looking to access the world of wine reviewing bloggers, shoot me an email...I know a number of wine bloggers who have great palates.

ADVERTISERS: CONSIDER THIS BLOG
Why? Well consider the audience: It's a very wine motivated audience. 60% have incomes over $100,000 Per year; 80% have a four year degree or more; 50% drink wine daily; 36% spend an average of at least $20 or more on wines they purchase; Your add will be viewed 15,000 times by 10,000 unique readers per month. You can learn more about Fermentation's readership HERE. To inquire about advertising here contact me at: tom@warkcommunications.com

FERMENTATION Readers Don't Like Strawberry Ice Cream

Just who are you readers of FERMENTATION?

-You are overwhelmingly male
-Spread across the age spectrum
-Make pretty good money
-Are very well educated
-Probably married
-There's a 50/50 chance you work in or around the wine industry
-Are heavy wine drinkers
-Are likely to spend on average more than $15 on a bottle of wine
-Don't really like your strawberry ice cream
-Prefer imported autos
-Are likely a dog, rather than a cat, person
-Prefer substantive reading over gossip

Not that surprising, but interesting.

We received a total of 157 responses during the week-long survey of FERMENTATION readers.

You can see the results by clicking here.

Among the deeper and more interesting findings:

-DAILY WINE DRINKERS are more likely to be older, own more wine and prefer Paris over the beach.

-DRINKERS SPENDING $20 OR MORE ON A BOTTLE have higher incomes, more education, less likely to be in the wine business, like their Mercedes and prefer the beach over Paris

-VANILLA ICE CREAM LOVERS tend to be more educated, less likely to work in the wine business, are dog people and are twice as likely to prefer People Magazine

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM LOVERS tend to be older, less educated, less likely to be married, spend less on wine, more likely to be cat people, and more likely to prefer Paris over the beach.

CAT LOVING  READERS tend to be older, more likely to live on the West Coast, have slightly more education, own more wine, prefer Paris and are decidedly New Yorker readers.

DOG LOVING READER are much more likely to live in fly-over country, Spend more on their wine purchases, more likely to prefer vanilla and more likely to read Time Magazine.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Interesting stuff. I'm trying to get to know FERMENTATION readers better. This helps. THANKS!

In the Last Days

Today is the last day you can make your voice heard in the
FERMENTATION READER SURVEY.

It's a short 16 question survey that won't take a minute.

We'll post links to the results so you can compare and contrast yourself to the average Fermentation reader (WHAT FUN!!)

More importantly, I'd be grateful if you took the minute to help me better understand just who it is that takes the time.

It's 100% anonymous!

16 Questions About YOU

The Ongoing FERMENTATION READER SURVEY will end on Thursday. If you haven't taken the opportunity to take the survey I'd be grateful if you did.

YOU CAN CLICK HERE to take the survey.

It's a quick 16 question, mainly multiple choice survey that shouldn't take more than a minute to complete. The results will be posted here and will also give myself and you a good idea of who is visiting this one and a half year old wine blog.

Thanks in advance for your participation.

There are questions that need answering.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Your responses to the Fermentation Reader Survey are 100% confidential. Not even I will know who you are.    I'll just know the answers that are left in the survey form, but I'll not know who left them. The survey is quite short: only 16 short questions.

The Survey will be up for about 1 week. At the end of that time we'll all have a good idea of who we are and where we stand in relation to other FERMENTATION readers. The results will be posted here and a link to the raw results will be posted too.

Thank you in advance for your participation. It is greatly appreciated.

What Kind of FERMENTATION Reader Are You? It's Survey Time

It has been almost a year since I last surveyed the readers of FERMENTATION. In that time the readership of wine blogs has grown and the number of blogs has grown.

So the question is...You read FERMENTATION, but what kind of person are you really?

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Your responses to the survey are 100% confidential. Not even I will know who you are.    I'll just know the answers that are left in the survey form, but not know who left them. The survey is quite short: only 15 short questions.

The Survey will be up for about 1 week. At the end of that time we'll all have a good idea of who we are and where we stand in relation to other FERMENTATION readers. The results will be posted here and a link to the raw results will be posted too.

Thank you in advance for your participation. It is greatly appreciated.

Your Wine Survey Results are HERE

RESULTS OF THE COUNTRY WINE SURVEY

You can see the results of the survey by clicking HERE.  A total of 216 people took the survey.

A quick summary and additional interesting observations are below.

1. QUALITY COUNTRIES
-France, Germany and Italy come in for the highest regard for their wines, with France being named by nearly 60% as producing wines of the highest quality.

-Poor Canada. Only 11% said they produce very good or top quality wines, while nearly 60% ranked their wines of only average or below average quality.
This is unfortunate as I'm inclined to believe this result is only due to Canadian wines being fairly unknowns. Canada hardly has a reputation for making poor wines. What they need is better marketing. Is anyone aware of a well distributed Canadian value ice wine? There's a niche.

2. LEARNING
-Spain walks away with the award for most intriguing wines. Nearly 60% said they definitely want to learn more about this country's wines. Italy is not far behind.

3. BEST VALUE
Ask to choose three countries with the best value, 50% looked to Spain, perhaps explaining why so many wanted to learn more about that country's wines. No other country really comes close, though Australia, supposedly the "value continent" comes in with 38% naming it as full of value

4. WORST VALUE
Are California wines really this over-priced. Just over 70% of respondents said California provides the worst value wines. It must be an issue of price as respondents put California wines near the top for quality.
I honestly never thought of CA wines being a bad value as it appears most of you do. I look at the price of the very best German and French wines, for instance, and see remarkably high prices. Meanwhile, I never have a problem finding very good $30 California wine, even $20 wines. However, I do believe I am biased.

5. QUALITY EXPECTATIONS
-No country even comes close. 63% of respondents believe that Argentine wines will improve the most a decade from now.

-The other interesting finding, but perhaps predictable since is is already ranked of the highest quality, is that France appears to have no room for improvement.
Argentina, in my estimation, does indeed appear to be a sleeping giant. The wines I've tried ave been very good, yet I've not tried that many.

6. WHAT YOU BUY
-No surprise here. 70% of respondents said they buy CA wine often or very often. France is not far behind.

-The Value King, Spain, interestingly, is only purchased often or very often by 34%. Australians, who sure do know how to export is bought often or very often by 35% of respondents.

7. GENDER
-It's true. The guys are the geeks. 90% responding to this survey are guys.

8. AGE
-A near perfect curve. Less young-ens. Many middle agers. and only a few oldies

9. TIME DRINKING WINE
-Not surprising. It matches the Age Curve

10. KNOWLEDGE
-It's nice to inhabit a world where no one considers their knowledge base below average. Or, it could be no one who believes they have something to learn about wine frequents this blog.

REALLY INTERESTING STUFF
-Among those who said CA makes the highest quality wines, 68% said it was the worst value and 90% buy it often or very often. Message: They can't help themselves

-Looking at responses by women  you see virtually no differences in their answers from men

-Those who consider themselves wine experts have a higher regard for French and German wines, are much more likely to find value in French wines, are even more convinced Argentina will be producing much better wines in a decade, drink a lot more French and Austrian wine, and, can you believe it, are 100% male.

-Respondents who are between the age of 21 and 30 are much much more likely to want to learn about French wines, are more fed up with CA wine prices and less fed up about French wine pricing, have MUCH greater faith in the future quality of Chilean wines, are more likely to buy French wine than CA wine, and are somewhat more likely to consider themselves expert or VERY knowledgeable about wine.

-Looking at the Francophiles, those who buy French wines "very often," we find that they are nearly half as likely to call CA "Top Quality", believe French wines are the best values, believe CA offers the worst value to the tune of 84%, are far less likely to buy Australian wines, tend to be younger, and tend to think themselves more knowledgeable about wine than the average respondent.

-Among those who believe Australia provides the best value wines they are much less likely to want to learn about European wines than the average respondent, believe French wines are the worst value by far, buy more New Zealand and CA wine than most respondents, and tend to be younger

Quick...take the wine survey!

The time for participating in the currrent "FERMSURVEY 3.0: Country Wines" is coming to an end. I'll be closing it down tomorrow.

If you've not already taken the survey, I urge you do to so.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Thanks to EVERYONE who has participated. We've got some interesting results coming.

ATTENTION: SURVEY TIME!

ATTENTION...

FERMSURVEY 3.0: "Country Wines" is up and running!

Make your voice heard! 

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY ON WINES FROM MANY COUNTRIES.

Take the FERMSURVEY 3.0--Country Wines

FERMSUVEY 3.0 is up and ready for your humble opinion.

In this third survey of Fermentation's readers we look at Country Wines. Tell us what you think of various countries' wines. Do you buy them? Are they over priced? Are they set to get better? Tell us everything.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY NOW

Or click on the link in the far left column on top.

The results will be made available here at Fermentations: The Daily Wine Blog

SURVEY RESULTS: Wine Reviews are...OK

The results of the FERMENTATIONS' "How do you like your Wine Reviews" Survey are in. We had 99 respondents. The results below are rounded off. Thank you to EVERYONE who took this survey!!

1. How often is it that a wine review is the main reason you purchase a wine you've never tried before?
Almost always    3%
Often    31%
Occasionally    48%
Rarely    15%
Never    3%
Clearly reviews play a role in my readership's wine buying decisions, but it's not a decisive role, is it.

2. Where are you most likely to read wine reviews?
Wine Magazines like "The Wine Spectator" or "Wine Enthusiast"  19%
Wine Newsletters like "The Wine Advocate" or "The California Grapevine  16%
Newspaper Wine Columns  12%
In grocery stores on those little "Shelf talkers" under the wine  8%
On Wine Blogs  22%
On Internet Wine forums  21%
I guess it should be no surprise that more than 40% of respondents report they get their reviews somewhere on the Internet. What's interesting to me as a marketer is the small number reporting that shelf talkers play a role in where you see reviews.

3. What do you consider the most trustworthy and objective wine reviews?
Wine Magazines that take advertising  5%
Reviews at Wine Magazines that don't take advertising  28%
Reviews in newspaper wine columns   12%
Reviews on Wine Blogs   38%
Reviews on Internet Wine Forums   18%
This question should have come with a "And explain why" caveat. Why is it that Blogs are considered the most trustworthy and objective among 38%. I suspect it has something to do with the perceived intent of wine blog reviewers.

4. What do you consider the least trustworthy and objective wine reviews?
Wine Magazines that take advertising  67%
Reviews at Wine Magazines that don't take advertising  0%
Reviews in newspaper wine columns  15%
Reviews on Wine Blogs   9%
Reviews on Internet Wine Forums   10%
I guess this makes sense...67% finding advertising-supported magazines the least trustworthy and objective. My experience is that there is no support for the underlying suspicion.

5. Which rating system do you prefer to accompany a wine review?
The "A - F" rating system  12%
The 4 star/glasses/puffs rating system  11%
The 100 Point rating system  43%
The 20 point rating system  12%
No rating at all  21%
The big surprise to me is that 21% know what the 20 point rating system is. Only one wine publication I know of still uses this system, originally dubbed the "Davis" System. No surprise about the 43%.

6. For you, what is the most informative part of a wine review?
Description of the aromas and flavors  49%
Notes that suggest foods that will go with the wine  11%
Indication of how well the wine will age and when to drink it  8%
Information in the review about the producer and vineyards  24%
The accompanying rating  8%
Yea...I guess this is why we read reviews. I would have chosen "information about the producer." I want context in my review. I want to know why the wine tastes like it tastes, what the producers is going for, who they are, etc.

7. What is your gender?
Female  11%
Male  89%
No Surprise. But what do we have to do to attract the ladies to FERMENTATIONS?

8. What is your age?
21 - 30  20%
31 - 40  31%
41 - 50  28%
51 - 60  16%
61 or older  5%
This is a pretty good spread. We know that blog readers tend to be a younger group. But dedicated wine drinkers tend to be an older group. This equal the readership out I think.

9. How long have you been drinking wine?
1 - 5 years  17%
6 - 10 years  23%
11 - 15 years  8%
16 - 20 years  19%
21 - 30 years  23%
More than 30 years  11%
Another good spread...I'm glad

10. How much wine do you drink?
Daily  58%
A few times a week  38%
Once a week  3%
Rarely  1%
FERMENTATIONS' readers are drinkers aren't they!!. Who said "rarely".

You can get these same results with graphs and bells and whistles by clicking HERE

Closing the Survey...take it..Quick!

The FERMENTATIONS Survey 2.0 on wine reivews and how we use them is goingi to close down soon.

Please take a moment to fill out the short (1 minute?) survey and help us understand better why we read wine reviews, where we get them, which we trust (and don't trust).

To take the Survey 2.0 click HERE

Wine Reviews: The Good, Bad & Ugly

As many readers of FERMENTATIONS knows, we try to refrain from offering reviews of wines. However, we are very interested in wine reviews.

So interested are we that we want to know what you think about wine reviews, how you use them, where you read them and what you like and don't like about them.

Hence: "FERMSURVEY 2.0: How You Like Your Wine Reviews" is up and running.

CLICLK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY.

It won't take more than a couple minutes and the results will be published here for all to see.

Read The Wine Media Survey Results

The results of the Fermentations Survey "How Do We Consume Wine Information" are in.

The results can be found here.

A few things you need to remind yourself as you look at these survey results. First, it's a fairly small sample of Fermentations Wine Blog readers only. Also, it is important to not extrapolate to far out toward the general wine consumer. It is best to think of these results as "How do WINE BLOG READERS consume wine information?"

That said, what  do we know?

1. Getting information about our hobby is a daily ritual

2. The Internet is our "go to" medium for this information

3. We read The Wine Spectator far more regularly than any other print wine publication

4. We have  respect for the quality of information found in wine blogs, newsletters, magazines and wine forums

5. Newspaper wine columns and radio/TV wine information is low on our list of quality info sources.

6. It's wine reviews that are generally sought out

7. This was a survey of predominantly middle aged males who drink far more often than the average person.

Anyone else's take on these survey results would be  very interesting to read.

SURVEY: It's All About The Wine Spectator

Most niche industries or publishing categories have a dominant publication, a publication that has a readership substantially higher than the others in the category. I'm sure there is a good reason for this but I can't tell you exactly what it is. In the world of consumer wine publishing that publication is the Wine Spectator.

The third question in the FERMENTATIONS Survey on how you consume wine media asked:

What wine print publications do you make a point of reading as often as possible?

While a very small sample, it is no surprise that that Wine Spectator dominated the responses. of the 47 who answered this question 26 identified the Wine Spectator. More than half of the respondents.

No other wine publication broke out of single digits. The Wine Advocate was cited by 8 respondents, the Wine Enthusiast by 6 respondents, Decanter Magazine by 8 respondents.

Besides the Wine Spectator, there are three other publications in America that focus on wine and publish on a regular basis: Wine & Spirits, The Wine Enthusiast and The Wine News. There is also the Quarterly Review of Wine, a fabulous wine magazine that comes out quarterly and focuses not on scores but stories. Yet, the Wine Spectator has about 4 times the circulation of the largest of these three. Why has it succeeded in this way?

I think the answer is clear: Its reviews carry the most weight outside the wine geek community. And the wine geek community and wine industry are well aware of this. Even if it is only subscribed to by about 400,000 people, a great many more have heard of the Wine Spectator and its 100 point rating scale and have no reason to believe it is anything other than a reputable, authoritative wine rating organization.

I've written about the power of the Wine Spectator in this Blog before. I've warned it should not be underestimated. Of course few people do underestimate that power. However, far too many people speculate on what it takes to get a good score in the Wine Spectator. Some have and will suggest it takes advertising. This is hogwash. It's the kind of accusation that comes from those whose wines didn't get the score they believed they should or by consumers who have some sort of emotional stake in a wine that didn't score as well as they believed it should.

Over the years the Wine Spectator has migrated from a purely wine-centric publication to one that has the wine lifestyle (food, travel, good living) at its core. It has been an astute move by the publishers. it has attracted a larger readership without sacrificing its status as the reference for wine quality.

There is no indication that the Wine Spectator will be dethroned any time soon as the top dog of wine publications. However, if you want to go elsewhere for your wine info, you have a great number of choices from newsletters, to magazines to the Internet. However, if you want to know what is helping to drive sales in the U.S., you need to read the Wine Spectator's reviews.

It's all about "FERMENTATIONS"

The Question Was...

Where are you most likely to get your wine information?

Blogs 67.2% 39

Elsewhere on the Internet 53.4% 31

Wine Magazines 46.6% 27

Television 0% 0

Radio 1.7% 1

Newspapers 17.2% 10

Wine Newsletters 15.5% 9

Other (please specify) 10.3% 6

So what does this mean. It means exactly what you think. The 58 people who answered this question get their wine news predominantly on the Internet. We knew that. Did we know how irrelevant Television and radio was? Oddly, there are some pretty good wine related radio shows out there that can and do appeal to the hard core wine lover like you. Of course most of what's on TV is geared to the novice. And it should be for obvious reasons.

I am surprised that Wine Newsletters was not more often the pick in this survey. For my money the most in depth wine information you can currently get is in the various newsletters on wine. And I'm not even thinking of Robert Parker's wine advocate here, though among those who chose "Wine Newsletters," I'd bet they did have the Wine Advocate on their mind.

Stats and surveys are fun. But it's important not to confuse the results with anything other than what they are, a snapshot of the respondents. In this case, a snap shot of a small sample of Fermentation's readers.

It's Survey Time

Tell me what you think.

I love surveys. I love taking them. I love reading the results. I love analyzing the results. Why? I  find I learn a lot from aggregating information.

So, welcome to the first in an ongoing series of FERMSURVEYS.

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE.

This first survey will look at the wine information consumption habits of Fermentations' readers. It's short, painless and simple.