This is the fourth year I've compiled a most popular posts list, and it's the most confusing one so far. Usually, a pattern emerges, but I'm hard pressed to find one this year. Certainly, some of the usual favorites are here, like the $10 Hall of Fame. But visitors didn't seem to focus on cheap wine, like they did in 2010 when several Barefoot posts dominated the top 10, or on wine basics, which seemed to be the pattern in 2009.
One thing was consistent, though: You really don't like reviews that aren't red wine. The highest-rated white wine review was Cupcake charonnday, at No. 25; no white wine review has ever made the top 10. Rose didn't show up until No. 50, and it wasn't a review, but the link to the rose category. And sparkling wine? Not until a 2 1/2-year-old Gruet review at No. 73. But don't worry. I'm going to keep reviewing white, rose and sparkling wine, whether you like it or not.
After the jump, the top 10 posts between November 2010 and November 2011:
2. The 2010 $10 Hall of Fame. This is the first time that that a previous year's hall did this well.
3. The Layer Cake shiraz review. This post's popularity always baffles me (it was fourth in 2010).
4. The wine buying guide. Not a surprise, and always popular. Consumers are hard-pressed to find sensible, practical, understandable advice about buying wine. To underscore this point, I got a news release this week that said consumers should tell retailers they like "juicy wine made with dark red fruits that are jammy." I'm not sure that I understand what that means. What ordinary wine drinker will?
5. A two-year-old review of Las Rocas garnacha. Another baffler, especially since I didn't like the wine.
6. 2010's Barefoot post, an update of last year's No. 2 entry. Barefoot always does well, since I'm one of the few people in the cyber-ether who writes about it.
7. Six things you probably don't know about wine. This is the first year for the post, so this result is quite impressive. Again, it's basic information that is hard to find elsewhere.
8. All about the Wine Curmudgeon. This is the blog's visitor's guide, and it has made the top 10 every year. You think it's my picture that does the trick?
9. The eight-step program to enjoying wine. Another perennial top 10 post.
10. The residual sugar wine term post. This is the first time a wine term made the top 10, and I'm guessing it showed up because of sweet wine's increased popularity in 2010.
More about the blog's top posts:
• Happy birthday, Wine Curmudgeon 2010
• Happy birthday, Wine Curmudgeon 2009
• Happy birthday, Wine Curmudgeon 2008
The photo is via stock.xchng, using a Creative Commons license
you ought to do a birthday post about all the wines with names that reference the occasion. I see you already have cupcake
Posted by: Alfonso | November 17, 2011 at 07:44 AM
Arghh.. not cute wine names. Shudder.
Posted by: Jeff Siegel | November 17, 2011 at 07:50 AM
I'm thinking less critter, more cake
Posted by: Alfonso | November 17, 2011 at 10:50 AM
My favorite Wine Curmudgeon post is the one that shows up in my Inbox everyday at noon.
Happy Birthday, Jeff!
Posted by: Dave McIntyre | November 17, 2011 at 11:41 AM