Podcasts are the modern version of the radio; available on demand and wherever listeners are. Podcasts can be accessed with nothing more than a mobile phone and are typically listened to when cooking, exercising or working. The ease of access has seen an explosion in podcast listening in recent years. In English speaking markets, podcasts are especially popular in Ireland, United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

United States weekly podcast listening currently stands at 80 million, a 17% increase on the 2020 figure of 68 million. (Edison Research 2021)

In 2020, United Kingdom weekly podcast listening stood at 16.8 million. (Statista 2021)

Interpreting Wine is one of the world’s premier drinks and hospitality podcasts, specialising in the use of long-format audio interviews and "on-air" tastings to engage the global wine trade.

Previous guests include 19 Masters of Wine and six Master Sommeliers, alongside countless world famous winemakers, chefs, writers and restauranteurs.

Since 2018 the channel has attracted more than 350,000 listens in over 100 countries. 

The US and UK account for the highest share of listeners, followed by Ireland, Australia and Canada.

70% of listeners work in the wine trade, evenly split between male and female and is popular with established industry professionals as well as those early on in their career.

Known for its in-depth exploration of regions, countries and producers, Interpreting Wine is popular among WSET Diploma and Master of Wine students.

On average, over 60% of those who start an Interpreting Wine episode listen right to the end.

2020 was the biggest year in Interpreting Wine's history, during which the channel attracted over 4,500 hours (or 187 days) of listening each month. 

The average listener engagement stood at 22.5 minutes.

Podcasts enjoys several advantages over print publications:

• Listeners receive episodes instantly on their preferred device and numbers can be tracked by location.
• Episodes can last upwards of 45 minutes, giving more value to the listener.
• Podcasting is an intimate format that listeners really engage with. Indeed, 93% of people who listen to podcasts do so alone and 34% of listeners don't do anything else while listening. (Rajar, 2020)
• A high quality series can be recorded, edited and broadcast speedily and the schedule is not bound by an editorial deadline.

Advantages of podcast series over trade tastings:

• Infinitely scalable and can be shared hundreds, even thousands of times without an additional time or product cost.
• Recordings can  be repurposed for offline training and presentations, and as source material for social media posts, tasting notes and sales presentations.

One of the Interpreting Wine's most popular podcast episodes of all-time is also its longest ever.

Episode 443, featuring Juan Muñoz Oca of Chateau Ste. Michelle, which lasts over 90 minutes. This aired as part of a three-part Washington State Wine Deep Dive in February 2021.

One month after publication this episode had racked up 684 hours (or 28 days) of listening and ranked number 16 out of 443 episodes on the all-time list.

The power of podcasting is its ability to draw the listener into an intimate and involved conversation.

The audio format demands both insight and passion to maintain the listeners' interest. 

So choose a representative, ideally a winemaker, worthy to be the "voice of your region", heard in all corners of the globe.

Once the number of episodes is agreed upon and a 50% advance payment is made, the pre-recording process begins, which involves:

• Brainstorming the scope of the series with series sponsor.
• Idenitifying the best guests to tell that part of the story.
• Introductory call with guests to explain recording process and set a time to record.

Each stage of the process is supported with planning documents.

Please note: any required tasting samples would need to be sent to Lawrence in advance of recording.

It is recommended that tasting samples form part of the interview. Remote tasting brings the interview to life and engages the audience much more than a dry tasting can.

The preparation documents include step by step instructions on how to share and promote your episode to maximise your investment.

I will send you a dedicated monthly listening report for the first three months following publication.

A compete set of case studies, including samples of actual audio coverage, can be found HERE

To discuss options for being featured on Interpreting Wine, please book a free, no-obligation video call in my diary HERE