Wine Spectator launches mobile site

By Dan Butcher

October 8, 2008

Vino anyone?

M. Shanken Communications Inc.’s WineSpectator.com has rolled out a mobile version of its Web site called Wine Spectator Mobile. 

The mobile site is an optimized version of Wine Spectator’s Web site. It arms consumers with information on wine while they are at restaurants, wine shops and on the go.

“The strategy is to expose Wine Spectator’s industry-leading wine data to its subscribers in a mobile-friendly format,” said Robert Rothe, chief technology officer for M. Shanken Communications, New York.

“Our subscribers asked for an easy way to access our database of wine ratings, vintage charts and our subscribers’ personal wine lists in a mobile-friendly manner," he said. “This is our initial response to those requests."

With Wine Spectator Mobile, members of WineSpectator.com can search for scores and tasting notes in Wine Spectator's database of more than 200,000 wine ratings.

Wine Spectator on smartphones

Consumers can also view vintage charts of all the major wine growing regions to determine the best years to buy.

The Personal Wine List feature on WineSpectator.com lets members reference their customized shopping lists and current cellar inventories.

Wine Spectator Mobile has taken some of the most popular features from the Web site—wine ratings, vintage charts and Personal Wine List—and made those the centerpiece of its mobile site.

The goal was to create a streamlined interface that is easy to navigate.

Wine Spectator Mobile is at http://mobile.winespectator.com. It is accessible via any Web-enabled handset.

Published 16 times per year, Wine Spectator offers an insider’s view of the good life, including fine dining, wine, travel and entertainment.

With more than 2 million readers, Wine Spectator’s core audience is business leaders, trendsetters, collectors and connoisseurs.

In addition, the trade readership comprises insiders of the multibillion-dollar wine and spirit industry.

WineSpectator.com launched in 1996. It features wine ratings, tasting reports, news and other original content.

WineSpectator.com’s ratings database handles more than 1 million searches every month.

Since the Web site launched, there have been more than 80 million visits and 450 million page views, the company claims.

“The mobile site is a value-added benefit for our subscribers,” Mr. Rothe said. “We’re in the process of evaluating the mobile opportunities across our other publications and online properties.”

M. Shanken Communications other publications include Cigar Aficionado, Food Arts, MarketWatch and Impact.

“The initial call-to-action is our Web site promotion, email direct marketing and we’re currently evaluating other promotional opportunities,” Mr. Rothe said. “We’re currently exploring our options for growth and expansion of our mobile platform.

“Right now the mobile site does not contain advertising, but we’re currently looking at how to evolve this over time,” he said.