Wine Spectator Reaches Nearly 2.6 Million Wine Lovers

For the first time, world's leading wine magazine is read by more women than men

Dana Nigro
Posted: December 11, 2008

Wine Spectator magazine now reaches more than 2.58 million readers, the largest audience in its history, according to the fall 2008 study released by Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI), the leading U.S. supplier of audience research for the media.

Also for the first time, Wine Spectator has a greater number of female readers than male readers. Of the total audience, 52 percent are women and 48 percent are men.

The MRI report indicates that Wine Spectator attracts an affluent readership, with a median household income of $113,827—the sixth highest of the nearly 240 U.S. magazines, newspapers and publication groups measured in the audience study. The median age is 47. More than 56 percent have incomes above $100,000; of these, more than 75 percent have a college or higher-level degree, and 58 percent work in managerial or professional occupations.

Wine Spectator got its start in 1976 as a tabloid newspaper, with an initial circulation of less than 5,000. Today, Wine Spectator is the most widely-read wine magazine in the world.