Where have all the Australian wine bloggers gone?
Anthony Madigan, Editor of Australian Wine Business Magazine (WBM), posted this in the The Week That Was (TWTW) on Jan 9th.
‘Whatever happened to all the wine bloggers out there? Remember a few years ago when wine blogging was the next big thing and everyone was predicting some serious competition for the likes of James Halliday, Max Allen and Tim White? Ha, ha, ha, those old blokes seem to have more power and influence now than ever before because, apart from Philip White, no one seems to be making any headway. Sure, there are a couple of bloggers that are attracting a dozen or so loyal friends, family and pets to their posts, but as for serious readership numbers, well, no, it just ain’t happening. Mass media still rules supreme. Young Jeremy Pringle was doing great things with his blog, Wine Will Eat Itself, before his tragic death last year, leaving a gaping hole in the wine blogging community. Dave Brookes seems to have given Vinofreakism away, and Patrick Haddock ‘The Wining Pom’ is focusing on his Newcastle wine bar; reckons there’s more money in selling the stuff than writing about it. Fair dinkum? Who is your favourite wine blogger and why? Who is starting to make waves? Anyone out there looking like following in the footsteps of young Pringle? Anyone we should know about? Tip us off’
Naturally I couldn’t let a cheeky statement like that slide, so I responded straight away. Mads published it in full too (and important to note that he’s a good supporter of bloggers, so no malice):
‘Just read TWTW and noticed the bit about wine blogs – you’re missing a trick there! While Jeremy (Pringle) is sadly departed, and Patrick (Haddock) is not writing much anymore there are plenty of good wine bloggers still out there. Stu Robinson (Vinsomniac), Steve (QWine), Sean (Grape Observer) and Daniel (the Wine Idealist) are all doing very good things, not to mention the brilliance of Ed (Wino Sapien) with even Yalumba recently kickstarting their blog after an extended hiatus. Oh and Australian Wine Review? Well, my little blog is turning seven this year and I’m definitely not slowing down. Nor is traffic for that matter – the “small circle of friends” is a bit facetious given my blog had almost half a million page views last year…’
My response highlights just a few of the people doing good things in Australian wine blogging right now (and I missed plenty). Yet it doesn’t address the key question – so what has happened? Where have the Australian wine bloggers gone?
To answer that, however, I need to make an important distinction.
What Anthony didn’t realise in that TWTW stir is that his question itself is wrong. It shouldn’t be ‘what has happened to all the bloggers’ and instead ‘what has happened to all the wine writers’. Not only is it a false assumption that bloggers and professional wine writers are mutually exclusive (many are paid wine writers too, like me), the problem is not just bloggers who are MIA, but wine writers in general.
Want some examples? Well look only at the rate at which even our top wine writers columns are shrinking (like Huon Hooke’s), being propped up by questionable retailer relationship (also like Huon’s) or just disappearing altogether (like Ken Gargett’s) leading to a whole swag who have left all together.
We can pretend all we want that ‘mass media still rules supreme’, however the stark reality is that wine writing is now anything but mainstream, and definitely not supported by the mass media. Instead, it’s a niche, dominated by a few main players (James Halliday mainly) and small publishers (though we still don’t know who GT Wine has been sold to), with actual writers scattered thinly, living on diets where wine writing is complemented with other non-writing work like running bars/restaurants, doing PR for wineries, writing content, or holding events. Pure wine writers are an almost non existent species.
Ultimately bloggers are just the thin end of the wedge – the (perceived) easy target. Instead, the purported demise of bloggers should be the canary in the coalmine, hinting of what is a broader malaise – the shaky future of wine writing as a profession in the country.
Sadly I don’t have the answers on how to make wine writing more viable as yet, and even less answers on how to make critical wine blogging a lucrative business, so all I can ask is that you stop by a few Australian bloggers who are still doing good things, and let them know that you give a shit.
Here are a few places to start (in no particular order):
www.fullpour.com
www.wino-sapien.blogspot.com
www.grapeobserver.com
www.thewineidealist.com
www.thevinsomniac.com
www.qwineblog.blogspot.com
www.bonnezeauxgonzo.com
www.vinonotebook.com
www.drinkster.blogspot.com
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16 Comments
Well put Andrew and all great names there as far as the blogging scene in Australia. I for one can clearly see that you have a pretty big readership as I'm getting references from your site to mine almost every day. I think it's important to consider how the media scene is changing as well, perhaps people in general are reading less due to busier schedules. Part of the reason I started The Vincast podcast was it could be a bit more mobile, and you could listen on iPhone/Android wherever you are. The other part of the reason is that writing is hard, and I'm not disciplined enough. 😉 Have a great long weekend mate, keep up the great work!
Thanks and you have a great weekend too.
I think the landscape is changing, and with that the eyes are moving. They are moving to mobile and social.
Mobile: I doubt many people want to read long form posts on a mobile device. This is painful, and peoples attention span is getting less. Look at the average post length on Facebook as an example. Yes you need a lot of words to describe some content, but is this the best way to be delivered. What about reading out each blog post onto an audio version. Podcasting is reigning supreme (shameless plug: http://www.vinounplugged.com.au/). Hit me up (or James ;))
Social
Are more people listening to their friends about wine recommendations? With apps like Vivino (shameless plug 2: http://www.vivino.com/users/vineyardpaul) and Delectable, is this form of mobile micro blog going to become the future?
I think Gary Vaynerchuk said it best, go where the eyes go. I am seeing wine writers now getting into their own apps (http://www.thegoldbook.com.au/awv-app) and I think some of these will have limited success. I think the true success will be crowd sourced wine reviews, with backed up expert opinion.
Thats my take.
Cheers
Vineyard Paul
Cheers Paul and good points.
Ultimately we're still just talking about different platforms. Whether its a podcast, vivino or blogging, ultimately the most respected opinions will rise to the top, crowd sourced or not.
There will always be a place for wine criticism, just the delivery system is changing.
FromTheProducer currently monitors a range of wine blogs for mentions of producers listed on the website, sending out a summary each week by email, Facebook and Twitter. Readers can click through from the summary to the originating blog site and full posting so I hope that we are driving new readers to the sites.
I have had very positive feedback for this monitoring/aggregation service so I think there is still a lot of interest out there for good wine review blogs. I know that the reviews guide my own wine purchasing.
Thanks to all you wine bloggers.
If you have a blog which you think I am currently not monitoring let me know and I will add it to the list.
Thanks John and I didn't know that! Good to hear.
Re the comment 3 above…this sample of one still prefers to read about wine. I almost never click on audio/video wine reviews and "columns"…..actually delete the 'almost'. All my net access is over 3G (even at work), so that's partly why, but I doubt I'd change much even with fibre-optic squillion gig speeds. Poor writing is less annoying to read than awkward presenting is to watch – and you can read at your own pace.
I'd say there is no lack of good wine bloggers in Aus at the mo. Some have faded away, but there have been some very slick new ones appear also. When Jeremy Pringle left the building, he left a massive hole which is still there and which won't be filled readily though. I have also noticed that most of the more 'established' Aus wine bloggers seem to be posting less regularly than they did in the past (yourself included AG). That's not surprising given the need to actually earn a living. Maybe Aus wine blogging could be seen to be in a bit of a dip because this has happened to a few roughly at the same time?
Not sure now if I had a main point….but thought I'd chip in to mention that I give a shit.
Andrew,
Wise and kind words. As a jaundiced participant it has been clear to me that for the hard core the internet and blogs – like your and Julian's (and before of course Jeremy's) have for a long time been the only places to get interesting and mostly unfiltered vinous information. Our thoughts and words will always remains relatively peripheral (the internet is for grumpy cats), though as you say cream, such as your blog will always rise.
I definitely do give a shit Andrew if that helps 🙂
and your helpful little links list on the side was a great starting point for several other blogs i have enjoyed.
Ref: the comment above about preferring to read about wine as against listening/watching wine reviews, I wholeheartedly concur. Wine is an introspective thing for me and quite a few friends. Reading just makes it much much more interesting. In this era of screens clamouring for our attention, sometimes one just needs to focus and read to relax/slow down.
Keep up the amazing work.
P.S. another link you may want to add to the list of wine blogs you have handy for the beginners.
http://australianwinereviews.blogspot.com.au/
I quite enjoy Thomas's writing and his book about the Barossa is a must have.
I started typing away a long response, and concluded that I am in complete agreement with your thoughts. Well said.
I much prefer to read about wine than watch/listen. Much. I'm not alone given the traffic figures I've seen for most wine vids too…
Well, thanks for the blog list, I added a few more to my reader. Though RSS feeding is also dead, as I was told.
Great article Andrew, agree with you. We're all there but life gets in the way sometimes. How can we promote ourselves better and take that next step in being recognised as serious, legitimate writers ? Cheers, Peter
To be honest I'm not sure that legitimacy is an issue if you're posting relevant and well written material. The challenge is more about viability of what can be a (financially) loveless profession…
Hi Andrew,
I have been writing about wine for a number of years. http://www.finewineclub.com.au has been going since 2009 with a regular newsletter supporting the website.
Feel free to share the site with your readers if you think it will be of interest.
Cheers,
Barry
I am still giving a shit :).
MichaelC