Wine Spectator launches editors blogs and RSS feeds

The Wine Spectator is one of the leading US publications on the world of wine, featuring reviews, ratings, analysis, etc. The ratings are particularly influential when it comes to how well a given wine will sell, and for how much. Wine Spectator Online subscriptions ($49.5/yr) can be purchased separately from the magazine in order to access to their extensive wine ratings database, articles, etc. The latest addition to the content: blogs, developed by five of the editors/columnists.

Because they make content available behind a toll booth - which I am happy to pay for because of the quality and authority of it, Wine Spectator has elected to make blog posts available only to subscribers, and to my surprise, it does not prevent a lot of comments and active conversations from taking place. Comments are moderated (comments policy here) but at the end of the day, each subscriber is clearly identified - and accountable - through his/her subscription identity, making comments pretty relevant. On that topic, Editor and Publisher Marvin R. Shanken writes (sub req'd):

The blogs make an interesting contrast with our forums. For many years, this site has offered an open forum--and I mean open--where wine lovers can gather to discuss a wide range of wine topics or just rant. These forums are very popular. Thousands of wine lovers have signed up as members, and many more “lurk” on the site just to read the discussions. Some threads end up with many thousands of viewers. It is our way of giving wine drinkers access to a community and a home to visit.

But some of our editors have been reluctant to comment there, myself included. For one reason, the site allows posters to use screen names. While most posters behave responsibly, there are some who write inappropriately from time to time, saying things they would be otherwise afraid to say if they were required to use their real names. Some clearly have a hidden agenda, though we have no way of knowing exactly what it is or who they are.

The beauty of the new editors' blogs is that they are offered behind a wall--that is, only online subscribers can read them and post comments. Everyone is required to use their real names.

RSS feeds are available: all blogs, daily wine picks, etc. Daily picks are available as a free full feed, which is great. Only headlines are available for blog posts, content has to be read on the site - which is a bit of a bummer. I should be able to enter my subscription password in order to access the content in my feed reader, or at least the first paragraph of each post should be made available as a partial feed. I would also add support for trackbacks in order to bring in “outside” conversations, and FeedFlare-like features to the feeds.

Not perfect yet, but a very welcome development. And it is interesting that blogs are used to develop further the Wine Spectator community, as opposed to being used as a lead generation/subscription conversion mechanism.

Update: I have been following some of the conversations between Wine Spectator's editors and their readers/commentators, and I confirm the sentiment of having an expert, or at least highly clued-in, audience getting involved on these blogs. Definitely worth the read.