Written by Team JR 27 Feb 2015 Visitors' survey 2015 - the results, part 1 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!