blog.Cellarer

Here is the quarterly ranking of web sites. Webmasters need not apply as the contest includes all sites. The table shows only the 150 ‘best’ — ‘best’ is evaluated with public website metrics. These permit to include all sites — not just blogs.

So lie back, relax, and enjoy my comments on the results.

Off-line support

You may notice that half the biggest websites are supported — and promoted — by off-line operations. They are Web appendices of successful non-Internet ventures: the Wine Spectator, The Pour, eRobertParker, Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, Natalie McLean, Jancis Robinson.

USA dominates

Most of the top websites stem from operations based in the US. The majority of the listed sites are written from that country. The following facts may contribute: the USA still is the country the most present on the Web, they still dominate the English-speaking culture and they are on a trend to become the top wine drinking country in the world.

Foreigners

So here is a list of all the websites which are pure players (without offline operations), in the Top 150 and not based in an English-speaking nation:

• Wine Terroirs (France);
• Catavino (Spain);
• French Scout (France);
• Burgundy-report (Switzerland);
• Grape Wall of China (China);
• Barry's Wine Notes (Germany);
• Vino Wire (Italy);
• Yak Shaya (Israel);
• Jerez Wine (Spain);
• Vinosseur (Norway).

How to participate

Websites are automatically included in the contest as soon as I learn of their existence. To be eligible to the next issue of the Cellarer wine directory, the below conditions must be met:

1. The main topic should be wine.
2. Producing estates and wine sellers are excluded. Some of them run wonderful websites but the type of information is different.

If you disagree with the directory criteria, please comment below or e-mail me.

You can follow the directory evolution by subscribing to the feed on websites .

Once the above conditions are fulfilled the websites are also considered for addition to another tool: a search engine dedicated to wine and food.

Elsewhere

There is a complementary contest: the Wine Blog Awards. It has a focus on US blogs and uses some subjective judgment by peers. The purpose is entirely different to that of the Cellarer ranking, which automatically includes all sites and is limited only by publically available data (which mostly is not directly influenced by peers).