WineSpectator.com Forums Thread Exceeds 200,000 Page Views

Readers have been trading tips on good wine buys for nearly five years

Posted: September 9, 2009

The wine lovers who regularly visit and post on the Forums at WineSpectator.com have shared tasting notes on wines they’ve enjoyed, information about wine regions they’ve explored and advice about corkage, cooking and collecting. And they're always hunting for good bottles at great prices.

In December 2004, a post alerting Forums members to wine deals available at the national retail chain Costco appeared in the Wine Conversations section. The thread reached 100,000 page views in November 2007; this year, in late August, it exceeded 200,000 page views of more than 1,300 comments.

The Costco Wine Alerts thread, spawned by a February 2003 post detailing the availability of 2000 Bordeaux at the retail chain, started with announcements of a range of wines, from the 2001 Chateau St. Jean Merlot Sonoma County (available at the time for $16.79) to first-growth Bordeaux such as 2001 Château Mouton-Rothschild ($142).

Recent discussion on the thread has focused on wine values, but lately those values have been even more impressive thanks to the slumping economy. Deals have included 2000 Léoville-Barton in magnum for $200 (release price $150/750ml), 2005 Mouton-Rothschild for $450 (release price $680) and 2005 Pichon-Longueville-Lalande for $80 (release price $143).

In addition to learning about wine values at Costco, the WineSpectator.com Forums offer a wide range of useful and educational topics. The Learn Wine section is supported by the Wine Spectator School. Reader recipes and cooking and dining advice are available in the Dining and Travel section. Wine Conversation is the most popular section of the Forums, where readers can find the Costco Wine Alerts thread.

The WineSpectator.com Forums now claim 14,000 members (membership is free). Anyone can join the conversation at www.winespectator.com/forums.