Wine Blog

The wine blog emerged in the early 2000s as a countercultural response to the perceived orthodoxies of professional wine criticism — specifically to the 100-point scale, the dominance of Bordeaux and Burgundy, and the occasionally impenetrable prose of the major critics. Within a decade, the best wine blogs had built audiences rivaling traditional print publications, and several of their authors had been absorbed into or prompted changes in the mainstream critical establishment.

The enduring strength of wine blogging is its diversity and authenticity. A wine blog can examine the $15 wines that the major critics never taste. It can explore the indigenous varieties of Greece, the skin-contact whites of Slovenia, the red wines of Lebanon, the surprising quality of English sparkling wine — regions and styles that receive only marginal attention in publications focused on the commercial mainstream.

The best wine blogs are distinguished by genuine expertise, developed over years of tasting and study, combined with a voice of individual character that makes them worth following even when the specific wines discussed are not immediately relevant to the reader. Eric Asimov's The Pour in the New York Times pioneered a model of engaged, personal wine writing that influenced a generation of bloggers. Jancis Robinson's jancisrobinson.com demonstrated that the most authoritative wine journalist in the world could build a paid digital subscription community that values depth of knowledge above all.

For the enthusiast seeking wine guidance, the best blogs — curated to those whose palates and priorities most closely align with your own — provide a perspective that no algorithm, recommendation engine, or print publication can replicate.