Thank you, thank you to the 415 visitors to this site who took the trouble to respond to our detailed survey with its two dozen questions. Because many of our questions were open-ended, we have ended up with nearly 10,000 words of comment, particularly on what is wrong and what is right with the site. (We were thrilled to find more people bothered to answer the latter than the former.) Perhaps not surprisingly, there were many contradictory views (more Bordeaux v less Bordeaux, for example). But there was also considerable consensus on some aspects.
Next week we will report on specific responses about the site but in this article we concentrate on who visits JancisRobinson.com and on general responses about wine and your preferences – always comparing the results with those of our last similar survey conducted in 2010, four years before our recent site re-design.
PART ONE: ABOUT YOU
| What is your sex? | 2010 | 2015 |
| Male | 85.3% | 81.5% |
| Female | 14.7% | 18.5% |
Hooray! This suggests that there has been a distinct increase in the proportion of women visiting this site. I found the puny percentage revealed by the 2010 survey deeply depressing.
| How old are you? | 2010 | 2015 |
| <30 | 5.4% | 6.9% |
| 31-39 | 20.9% | 15.2% |
| 40-49 | 28.3% | 25.8% |
| 50-59 | 25.1% | 27.8% |
| >60 | 20.2% | 24.3% |
The table above reveals the most worrying statistic of all: a marked decline in the proportion of under 40s visiting JancisRobinson.com. This mirrors findings elsewhere which suggest that it is getting harder and harder to identify and communicate with younger wine drinkers. Instagram, here I come...
| What is your main country of residence? | 2010 | 2015 |
| United Kingdom | 42% | 42% |
| United States | 15.4% | 15.5% |
| Australia | 1.7% | 6.6% |
| Canada | 3.9% | 3.7% |
| Hong Kong / China | 2.4% | 2.7% |
There has been little change here apart from the marked increase in Australian visitors (this poll preceded Walter's current series...). These figures match our Google Analytics stats very closely. A total of 41 different countries are represented by respondents, although we have members based in almost 150 countries.
| What is your mother tongue? | 2010 | 2015 |
| English | 73.4% | 73.1% |
| German | - | 3% |
| Spanish | - | 3% |
| French | - | 2.7% |
| Dutch | | 2.7% |
This also correlates with our Google Analytics figures.
| Do you work in any of these fields? | 2010 | 2015 |
| Wine trade | 23.2% | 26.4% |
| I'm lucky enough not to work | 5.4% | 18.2% |
| Banking / Financial Service / Accountancy / Taxation | 13.3% | 10.4% |
| News / Media / Design / Advertising | 3.9% | 10.4% |
| Healthcare / Pharmaceutical | 5.9% | 8% |
| Education / Training | 4.2% | 7.5% |
| Consultancy | 3.7% | 7% |
| Legal | 4.7% | 6.2% |
| IT | 4.7% | 5.8% |
There is an increase in the number of wine professionals but a seriously dramatic increase in the unemployed. We do hope this is by choice.
PART TWO: ABOUT YOU AND WINE
| What is your relationship to formal wine education? | 2010 | 2015 |
| I have no formal wine education | 42.7% | 45% |
| I hold a formal wine qualification | 30.9% | 28.6% |
| I have taken at least one wine course in the past | 15.6% | 14.3% |
| I am a wine student | 6.2% | 12% |
Two-thirds of those who reported that they are currently studying are WSET Diploma students, apparently.
| Approximately how much do you spend on wine per year? | 2010 | 2015 |
| <£250 | 0.5% | 3.4% |
| £250 – £500 | 3.7% | 7% |
| £500 – £1000 | 13.4% | 18.8% |
| £1000 – £2000 | 24.5% | 22.1% |
| £2000 – £3000 | 18.1% | 14.6% |
| >£3000 | 39.9% | 34.2% |
More belt-tightening. Far more respondents spend less than £1,000 a year on wine than five years ago.
| Which other wine websites do you visit? (in order of mentions) |
| eRobertParker.com |
| wine-searcher.com |
| decanter.com |
| winespectator.com |
| burghound.com |
| vinousmedia.com |
| wineanorak.com |
| cellartracker.com |
| wine-pages.co.uk |
| thewinesociety.com |
A total of 102 websites were mentioned. Some of the main reasons cited for their popularity were:
- like the critic / personality
- specialist knowledge (especially of Burgundy)
- different perspectives
- news
- vintage charts
| Are you a member of these cellar management systems? | 2010 | 2015 |
| CellarTracker | 76.7% | 82.1% |
| Vinfolio | 10.7% | 4.3% |
| Other | 20.8% | 13.7% |
A good 70% of respondents don't use any cellar management systems but CellarTracker continues to win ground.
| Which THREE sorts of wine interest you most? | 2010 | 2015 |
| Burgundy | 57.5% | 45.7% |
| Italian | 33.4% | 36.4% |
| Bordeaux | 56.1% | 34.2% |
| Rhône | 42.1% | 26.5% |
| Spanish | 12.8% | 22.9% |
| German | 14.5% | 20.7% |
| Champagne | 18.6% | 17.1% |
| Loire | 8.2% | 11.6% |
| Australian | 11.7% | 11% |
| Alsace | 8.9% | 9.9% |
| Languedoc-Roussillon | 8.7% | 9.6% |
| New Zealand | 12.8% | 9.4% |
| South African | 3.8% | 9.4% |
| Californian | 10.2% | 7.7% |
| Other French | 3.3% | 7.4% |
| Fortified wines | 5.9% | 6.6% |
| Portuguese | 3.6% | 6.3% |
| Other European | 2.3% | 6.1% |
| Other American | 3.3% | 5.5% |
| Argentine | 4.3% | 4.4% |
| Chilean | 2.8% | 4.4% |
| Austrian | 5.9% | 4.1% |
| Other table wine | 0.8% | 1.1% |
Now these figures are both interesting and surprising. Note the decreasing relative interest in Bordeaux (-39%), Burgundy (-20%) and Rhône (-39%) – although they all remain important overall. It is heartening to see increased interest in Spain (+78%) and Germany (+43%).
| Which other topics are of interest to you? | 2010 | 2015 |
| Food and wine | - | 71.4% |
| Vintages | 72.3% | 61.7% |
| Wine science (developments in viticulture and oenology) | 55.7% | 18.8% |
| News of people and companies in wine | 56.2% | 47.8% |
| Where to buy wine | 36.5% | 37.2% |
| En primeur | 49.6% | 34% |
| Wine laws and nomenclature | 31.7% | 31.1% |
| Fine wine prices | 41.8% | 30% |
| Auctions | 22.7% | 15.6% |
| Buying wine for investment | 22.2% | 12.2% |
| Where to store wine | 11.3% | 8% |
The slump in interest in en primeur (-31%), auctions (-31%) fine-wine prices (-28%) and buying wine for investment (-45%) is quite remarkable. Along with changes to favourite regions, is this proof that fine wine is becoming detached from regular wine drinkers? Note the marked, and surely sensible, surge in interest in food and wine (not a specific option offered in 2010). Arise, Sir Nicholas Lander.
| Which of the following apps do you use? | 2015 |
| Wine-Searcher | 74% |
| Vivino | 33% |
| Wine Spectator | 21.5% |
| Delectable | 11.5% |
| Snooth | 10% |
| Cor.kz | 9% |
| Drync | 1.5% |
| Hello Vino | 1% |
| Plonk | 0.5% |
| Raisanable | 0.5% |
This was a new question for 2015 and the results above are for the 48% of respondents who said they did use wine apps. You may like to read Richard's comparative survey of many of them.
Next week – more gripping details!