Wine.com lets public choose its top 100 list

The following article was published in the Sacramento Business Journal. The subject is about the top 100 list from Wine.com. Based entirely on quantities sold it is an interesting approach to having the public rate wines...
Read and judge for yourself.

Wine.com lets public choose its top 100 list
Sacramento Business Journal - by Chris Rauber San Francisco Business Times

Taking after the popular "American Idol" TV show, Wine.com unveiled its Wine.com 100 on Wednesday, touting it as "the industry's first top 100 list based entirely on customer preferences."
The top 100 list reflects the top 2 percent of wines sold nationally on Wine.com during 2007, based on unit volume, according to the San Francisco-based company, which bills itself as the nation's top online wine retailer.
"We wanted our first-ever top 100 list to be unique," Rich Bergsund, Wine.com's CEO, said in the Dec. 5 statement. "Many publications rank wines based on the opinions of their wine critics. We wanted our customers to be the judge, voting with their wallets to determine the Wine.com 100."
The top five best-sellers on the list are:
Hogue Genesis cabernet sauvignon, 2003, Columbia Valley, Washington.
Sticks chardonnay, 2004, Yarra Valley, Australia.
Cristalino NV brut cava, non-vintage, Spain.
Big House Red, 2004, Central California coast.
Veramonte Primus, 2004, Bordeaux red blend, Chile.
Northern California's highest-placed wine, a 2006 Hanna Russian River sauvignon blanc, came in at No. 9.
Despite the customer-first approach, Wine.com noted, wine critics also got in their digs. Eighty-four of the top 100 were rated 90 points or higher by industry periodicals such as Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (18), Wine & Spirits (18), Wine Enthusiast (15) and Wine Spectator (8), and 91 were reviewed by customers on the Wine.com web site.
Seventy-five of the best-selling wines are priced at $20 or below. Red wine represented three-fourths of the top 100, led by Cabernet Sauvignon (18), red wine blends (17), Syrah (10), Malbec (5), Pinot Noir (5) and Merlot (5). Of 17 white wines on the list, Chardonnay (6) and Sauvignon Blanc (5) were the front runners.
In contrast with many U.S. wine retailers, where an average of just 1 in 4 wines sold is imported, according to Wine.com, its list contains 60 imported wines. California is the leading region with 29 wines, but eight foreign countries are represented, led by Australia (18), Spain (12), Chile (7), France (6), Italy (6), and Argentina (6).
In May, Wine.com led a list of online wine sellers put together by Internet Retailer Magazine, making it the third consecutive time the San Francisco vendor has topped the list. It also ranked No. 13 on the food and drug list and was No. 199 among all Internet retailers, based on 2006 revenue.

See the complete top 100 list here!


Vote for my blog here and help me reach top 10 on The Blog Top!