December 15 2007
Last week Wine.com, the #1 online wine retailer as picked by “Internet Retailer” magazine, released their top 100 wine list for 2007.
In a nod to the power of citizen engagement, Wine.com released not a top 100 based on their tasting panel, or critical score, though scores are represented in abundance, they released the top 100 wines based on unit volume sales—the sheer amount of wine sold to customers.
It’s an interesting twist and it does offer a few surprises. From their web site:
You’ll see customer reviews on 91 of these wines and independent professional ratings of at least 90 points on 84 of them. Seventy-five are priced below $20, and well-known premium brands such as Silver Oak, Caymus, Veuve Clicquot, Jordan, Rombauer, Grgich Hills and Conundrum also made the list.
What’s the surprising thing to me? I think most people engaged in the wine world online hold the belief that wine sales online is a growing and complementary channel to existing retail—people buy wine online that they can’t find in their local market--a supplement to their local wine shop. It’s not a reach to say that these wines are probably on the smaller production side, perhaps boutique in nature, if you want to use that word.
Secondarily, I would presume that, assumptively, based on shipping costs, or the just simply the notion of buying wine online, it’s a commonly held belief that higher price point wines are sold via the Internet.
It’s not a stretch to think—smaller production wines at a higher cost are finding an audience—this is the Longtail in practice, a theory that posits that (excerpted from Wikipedia) that products that are in low demand or have low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough.
So, color me surprised when the top 100 wines at Wine.com include 75 wines under $20 a bottle and such nationally distributed stalwarts as Hogue, Big House Red, Concannon, Columbia Crest, Smoking Loon, Conundrum, Pillar Box and Columbia winery.
You can find each of these wines, for the most part, in every state in the country. Most of the wines listed above are in the top 25 in sales and several are under $12 bucks a bottle.
Ironically enough, Pinot Noir, the hottest varietal in wine, enters the list at #55 and just four of the top 100 are Pinot’s.
Interesting stuff. I feel like I’m reading a Superman comic book with Bizarro Superman where everything I know to be true is the exact opposite.
This definitely turns my view of what the conventional wisdom is related to wine sales and it also tells me that –positively—the adoption of buying wine online is accelerating at an incredibly fast rate.
E-commerce, back in the day, a decade ago, used to be nice to find things and have them delivered that you couldn’t find locally. E-commerce quickly moved into a function of convenience, however. In the late 90’s, buying a book at Amazon.com become simpler then navigating the Barnes & Noble.
I’ve held the belief that wine sales online today, was akin to general e-commerce, like buying a book circa 1997, a matter of sourcing that which was scarce.
The Wine.com list tells me that wine sales online is now moving to more of a matter of convenience—having something show up on our door instead of going out to buy, particularly when a lot of the wines listed in the Wine.com top 25 and can be found at your grocery store, liquor shop, or on end-cap at a big-box retailer.
The funny thing about change and adoption of new practices is that you occasionally, but more rarely, have the wisdom in-line while the events are occurring--more frequently the evident truth lags just a bit of time, attendant hindsight.
I would have to say that the Wine.com list, while we’re still in the nascent days of wine sales online, is an evident truth and our future hindsight is present today.
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