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The End of Print?

In the next ten years, a much more democratic, open range of experts, consultants, specialists, advisors and chatty wine nerds will assume the role of today's wine publications.

A rather bold assertion for me to make, you might think, but this isn't my personal statement. I quote none other than Robert Parker, who recently published a list of wine predictions for the next decade. A couple of these concern directly the US market; he predicts a revolutionised distribution system which would be good news for the American consumer, and the development of California's Central Coast to match Napa and Sonoma in terms of quality. Many, however, are of global import, and number two on the list is his prediction for the internet.

The internet certainly has a great number of advantages over the mainstream print publications which will make it increasingly difficult for them to compete. The internet offers writers, and aspiring writers, the opportunity to bring their opinion to the public at minimum cost, as the fees involved in domain name registration and web-hosting are minimal. As a consequence the barriers to wine writing are lowered - anyone can publish their writing for public consumption, and on that writing they will be judged. In addition, time to publication can be almost immediate, whereas traditional monthly print publications have an inherent lag time that cannot be avoided. Most of all, however, it is the high quality of some internet publications that counts. Their success is undeniable; they serve as spring-boards for careers as a wine writer, as a source of high quality, focused information from those already in the trade, or as a platform for the enthusiastic 'amateur'. Then, of course, we have the online forums, where communities of great expertise come together and debate, discuss and share information. These are the chatty wine nerds, experts and specialists of which Parker speaks; people with a massive amount of knowledge, often very specialist, detailed knowledge. And, in the internet, they have a superb medium for communicating this knowledge.

So the print world has much to fear, it seems; but surely the sheer quality of print publications ensures they remain in a position of strength? I fear not, as sometimes it seems they are willing participants in their own demise, like dinosaurs, dragging their feet and resigned to their fate. Some published 'wine writing' is, well, decidedly weak. Steven Spurrier, writing in September's Decanter (letters), felt sufficiently moved to criticise the knowledge of one of his fellow contributors, who had made a brash comment on the quality of wines turned out by Guigal. Other columnists seem happy to write about what they drank with lunch last Saturday, which hardly addresses the cutting edge controversies of the present, such as the cork debate, the price of Bordeaux, the quality of the latest vintage, INAO regulations, new appellations and the French wine crisis, the international markets, terroir, winery manipulation.....I could go on (perhaps in a regular column). Other columnists seem content to extol the virtues of their son's US wine business, which is not so much lazy but rather a highly dubious practice.

High quality column writing is surely the core of any serious print publication, and if these publications are to succeed, there must be some sorting of the wheat from the chaff. Fortunately, sticking with Decanter, there are a few gems. I value Jefford's writings, for instance; if only this sort of knowledge and insightful opinion could be matched by some of the other contributors. Quite why Jefford doesn't strike out on his own I don't know. If I can think of just one imaginary wine publication I would subscribe to, it would be Jefford's own periodical, focusing on French regional wine producers, building on the excellent work he did for his book The New France. Similar print publications, such as Parker's Wine Advocate and Coates' The Vine, will always succeed as consumers value highly the palate and opinions of the author. But even these have embraced new technologies to ensure their survival, either with dedicated websites or in the form of electronic distribution - kudos to Mr Coates for the latter.

Other more general publications have done similar; both of the main UK wine publications have associated websites, although Decanter seems the better of the two, and has received praise for its good use of the available technology in bringing breaking news to the attention of the wine consumer. I can't resist mentioning, however, that when they broke the news of Parker's forecast for the future, there was no mention of prediction number two; so the reporting isn't always as balanced as it might be! Nevertheless, they deserve credit for their online operation. It does, however, reflect the fact that when it comes to choosing a source of wine information many people are embracing new technologies. And there, as alternatives to the established print world, waiting to welcome them with open arms, are Parker's chatty wine nerds. Helpful, chatty wine nerds with a depth of knowledge sufficient to understand the range of wines from Guigal, to understand what really interests wine consumers today, and they don't waste time telling you of the wines their son has for sale. No wonder, as Parker says, the internet is going mainstream. (22/9/04)

For full details of all Parker's predictions see the Food & Wine site.