Wine X folds; wine industry blows

The incredibly stellar Wine X magazine had pretty much everything I wanted in a magazine. It talked about wines and booze, didn't talk to me like I was an AARP member trying to decide where to put my cellar for retirement, and had actually interesting people within it's covers.

The magazine is now going to fold and the founder and editor, Darryl Roberts, is not happy about it, blaming most of it on the wine industry in general. He says that with all the talk that wine makers have of hitting the 20-something market, they don't do very well. Quote:

“The wine industry says it's interested in young adults but spends all of its ad and promo money targeting the same people it's been targeting for the past 30 years - rich, old white people.”

Ouch.

I'm inclined to agree with the quote though, the more I see of the wine industry, the more it becomes fairly obvious that they're leaving the younger market to Charles Shaw and trying to hit those people up when they're older.

There are some sites out there that are doing it right, but there are a lot more that aren't, and amidst it all, Wine X was doing a hell of a job making it worth it. If nothing else, wine companies should have helped keep the magazine afloat because it did all the things that a magazine focused on a younger generation was supposed to do and it did them well.

I guess when I'm a rich, old white person, I'll be well served. I can't wait.

via Decanter News

Comments

Shhh said…

I think you do it right, when you're not too booze posted-out and talk wine. So does The Wine Offensive. so do a few more, like The Caveman. All these sites love the subject and want to tell people about it, never got that from WineX.Just talk abotu what's cool with wine, don't preach or teach, and don't assume we all want to get wasted. And that "X" bugged me as much as the Toyota "Matrix." I mean, come on.

12:04 PM

Rick D said…

Funny thing, I get e-mails and people ask if I could talk about wine less. There's no accounting for taste. ;)

I would talk more about wine, but EVERYONE does, so it's not really a subject I like to spend a lot of time chasing after.

I can agree with you on the name, but the magazine started in 1998 and "X" wasn't quite as overused as it is now, and the name did tell the story of the magazine, which is useful.

12:30 PM

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