Today – 2nd of July 2021 – marks eight years since the first post on Frankly Wines!
Longevity
In May 2015 I corralled fellow members of DNS Wineclub and some fellow wine bloggers from Dublin into attending a public tasting at Honest 2 Goodness in Glasnevin, Dublin. During a memorable evening of great wines and great company, Paddy from The vine Inspiration posited that not all of us present would still be writing in a year or two’s time.
From our original gang of five wine bloggers I am the only one to still be posting regularly. Lots has happened in those eight years…life just takes over sometimes, including “proper” jobs and children (we have gone from a total of 3 kids between us in 2013 to now having 12! Perhaps a parenting blog might have been more appropriate…)
Style
I try to strike a balance on Frankly Wines between information, entertainment and accessibility. Where possible I like to use a map to explain where a particular wine region on winery is located because location is one of the key things to understanding most wines (plus I love maps…)
Above all they have been fun to write! I never thought of myself as a writer before starting Frankly Wines, although I know my English is excellent [/humblebrag], but passion conquers everything. One thing I try to do with every article is improve my knowledge with the research I do in advance of actually writing
Guest Posts
This is the 452nd post on Frankly Wines, but not all have been written by me. I have had very generous guest posters for three different series:
- Valentines’ Day Wines (2015)
- Wines for Xmas (2017)
- Wine + Music Matching (2020)
Thanks again to all those who have contributed over the years.
Top Posts
Easily the most popular theme – in terms of views – across my posts has been wines from Supermarket Lidl. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that they are an international outfit and so people search for reviews of their wines in many countries. Of course, it helps that I have a good relationship with Lidl Ireland and receive plenty of samples from them to write about.
The second most popular theme is my (admittedly irregular) Top 10 posts; Top 10 Reds of the year, Top 10 Value Whites, etc. While they might seem like clickbait, they are a genuine attempt to list wines (out of the hundreds or thousands that I might taste in a year) that most impressed me.
An older standalone post that has resurged in popularity over the past few years is Who’s The Dada, a post from 2017 which ended up being the most popular overall of 2020. I don’t know why this post became so popular, though it is about a very commercial and high selling wine, but it appears as the #4 on Google results for “Dada Wine Review”. For 2021, a new rival popular wine post has emerged: 19 Crimes Red.
Of course I would love for articles on wines from boutique and specialist importers to be more popular, but as the biggest source of views on my page is through search engines it is the popular wines that will tend to wine out.
My Favourite Posts
Above we’ve looked at the most popular posts, but which have been my favourite posts to write? Here are a dozen I look back on with fond memories:
- 10 ways to mildly irritate a wine enthusiast
- #MWWC19 CHOICE – How to Choose a Burgundy?
- Of Champagne and Serendipity, part 1
- The Kaleidoscope of Wine – how’s your palette?
- G.D. Vajra Dinner at Ely Wine Bar
- DNS Wine Club *FUN* Tasting
- I like Swiss Wines – Cos That’s How I Roll (part 1 – rarities)
- Alsace Blends
- Chalk Hill McLaren Vale Fiano 2017
- DNS taste North America
- Unfinished Sympathy
- Louis Latour Grand Cru Corton Charlemagne 2017
Thank You!
Thank you to all my readers, past, present and future. Your views, likes and comments have inspired me to keep writing throughout the years.