Top 7 Wine Bloggers

In a report at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium in Napa last week, Wine Opinions, a research provider to the U.S. wine industry, revealed the top 7 wine bloggers, according to their trade survey.

The results were ranked by wine blog and frequency of visits. Those in the trade who said they visited these blogs "frequently," as opposed to "occasionally," ranked the bloggers as follows.

Eric Asimov, N.Y. Times, The Pour  23%
Eric Orange, Local Wine Events  21%
Steve Tanzer, International  Wine Cellar   15%
Jancis Robinson (tie), Jancis Robinson  13%
Alder Yarrow (tie), Vinography  13%
Tyler Colman, Dr. Vino  12%
Gary Vaynerchuk, Wine Library TV  9%

The survey list was a subset of the wine blogging community, as there are hundreds of wine bloggers, ranging from those who have been doing it for years to those who just started blogging last month. There has been considerable discussion in both the press and wine blogging community about how and if wine bloggers are changing the wine world,  whether it be in the democratizing of wine criticism or the influence they have in consumer wine purchases.

Interestingly enough, populist wine disciple, Gary Vaynerchuk, who has become a new media cultural icon, was rated dead last by the wine trade. This would seem to suggest that his popularity rests with regular wine consumers and those millennials and gen-xers who are looking to learn more about wine but in a non-old school, digitally direct way. Meanwhile, Eric Asimov's "The Pour" was listed as the most frequented blog, but then he does have the bully pulpit of the New York Times behind him.

Later this week, Wine Opinions will release their entire "Market Track 1" report, which will detail the survey findings of the trade panel, as well as a consumer survey panel. Wine Opinions says this will be the most in depth and comprehensive study of U.S. wine consumers and the trade that has been done since the recession began.