Wine Berserkers: what's in a name?

Image by Sofia Morin from Pixabay

“I would not have picked the name.”

What began as an online term of derision has become the brand of the largest wine discussion forum on the Internet.  Todd French, Wine Berserkers.com’s founder, moderator and passionate leader, didn’t have this in mind when it all started 12 years ago.

After catching the wine “bug” at a sommelier-led dinner with wine pairings at Disneyland’s Napa Rose restaurant, Todd was eager to learn more.  “I didn’t want to just read a book about it,” he says of his new-found passion.  So, he turned to the Internet.  

He joined a popular online forum where wine lovers ask questions and share expertise.  The pejorative “Wine Berserkers” was coined by one of that forum’s moderators, with whom Todd and others crossed swords.  Fed up with what they saw as arbitrary enforcement of forum rules, the group went off on their own and Wine Berserkers began.  Three million posts and more than 29,000 subscribers later, Todd is proud of the vibrant online community that has evolved.  

A glance at the board index (www.wineberserkers.com/forum) reveals how an online forum differs from social media feeds.  Dozens of discussion threads are organized into topic-defined sections ranging from “wine 101” to “cellar rats,” “wine pimps” and even politics.  “On a forum, the [user-generated] content is the ‘product,’” said Todd.  Unlike the constantly-refreshed feeds of social media, Wine Berserker’s millions of posts remain available and searchable. Entering even the most obscure wine term into the site’s search field can yield a deep dive into the experiences and opinions of avid users.

Photo by Steven Erixon on Unsplash

A core group of several hundred subscribers do much of the posting each day.  But Todd estimates that as many as 1500 participate on at least a weekly basis.  Members are located around the world, tend to be well-educated, and range from the “I just found a bottle” novice to serious collectors and wine producers.  Like the whole fine wine industry, participation tends to be disproportionately male.  But that is changing.  Todd sees a growing influence of the women participating in the forum (15% to 20%), whose voices are gaining outsized respect.  That dynamic is part of an increased vibrancy and warmer tone that the group has taken on this past year.

“I've noticed that since the quarantine our community has grown, and been far more active. Online friendships and relationships have blossomed under this forced-at-home timeframe, and that's extremely valuable to all of us,” Todd said.  There is no better indicator of that growth than the success of this year’s Berserker Day, dubbed “The Black Friday of Wine Commerce” by Forbes Magazine.  Held each year on the anniversary of the forum’s founding – January 27 – Berserker Day brings together dozens of (mostly) small producers and wine-related businesses with the site’s user base.  Vendors introduce their brands and stories through advance posts and then offer one-day, special pricing on representative products.  This year’s edition yielded sales in excess of $1,600,000 – doubling the all-time record set the previous year.  

Todd hopes to keep “the magic going,” even as stay-at-home restrictions are eased.  “This year has been my favorite year,” he says, noting that the users have taken more ownership of the forum.  “It feels like a huge group of friends,” he said.  “I hope it continues.” Todd has ideas in mind for how that can happen. Participation on the site remains free, but paid membership options offer ad-free browsing and early access to Berserker Day offers at a nominal cost.  And there is more coming.

Learn more at www.wineberserkers.com