New Zealand Site Dominates U.S. Wine World

New Zealand Site Dominates U.S. Wine World

10 June 2014

The most influential wine website in the U.S. is not based in Silicon Valley but the Auckland suburb of New Lynn.

The VinePair Wine Web Power Index measures the influence of selected wine websites and mobile apps within the United States and West Auckland-based Wine Searcher is top of the list.

Wine Searcher is a search engine for wine that lists more than 5.5 million wines and prices from almost 40,000 merchants around the world. Master of Wine Jancis Robinson calls it “the most successful, and seriously useful, price comparison website.”

The first-ever Wine Web Power Index was published in December 2013 and in the last six months, Wine Searcher has increased its lead at the top of the table, well ahead of its nearest rival, The Wine Spectator.

The Index’s creator based its ranking on web traffic, social media influence and organic search relevance to produce its scores.

Wine Searcher was launched in 1999 by Martin Brown and in early 2012, the site added an online magazine to its huge database of wines. The magazine was shortlisted for Wine Website of the Year 2013 in the prestigious Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards.

Brown said: “We’re delighted to be named the most important wine website in the U.S. Our aim is to help more than two million monthly visitors to make better wine buying decisions.

“Since launching in 1999 and relocating back to my native New Zealand in 2006, the site has helped to provide greater transparency of wine pricing from Auckland to Atlanta. Our data shows that 10 years ago, not only was there greater variability in prices, but the number of merchants who attempted to charge significantly higher than the mid-price was considerably greater than it is today.”

ENDS

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