Wine Spectator Top 100

Wine Spectator’s Top 100 is the publication’s most anticipated annual feature, a prestigious ranking that has become the industry’s definitive year-end ranking list since its inception. Each year, Wine Spectator editors evaluate thousands of wines in blind tastings, narrowing down to the 100 most exceptional wines that represent outstanding quality, value, availability, and excitement. After a series of countdowns and reveals of some of the top wines the ranking culminates in the announcement of the coveted “Wine of the Year”. This reveal series is the primary seasonal driver of web traffic for the company receiving hundreds of thousands of page views over a few days and with large impacts on the wine industry across the globe.

When I joined Wine Spectator in 2014, my first major assignment was to redesign and rebuild the digital platform for this high-profile editorial product. In previous years the product had been plagued by performance issues, with servers frequently failing under the load of thousands of concurrent users during the popular countdown reveals. A previous developer had attempted a static site solution to resolve downtime issues, but it created workflow challenges for content editors and had a limited feature-set.

I developed a hybrid approach that met editorial needs and maintained performance requirements:

• Created a WordPress backend with in-depth set of custom fields that provided editors with familiar content management tools and flexibility to customize the most critical pages of the year.
• Implemented an automated system that scraped the WordPress content and deployed it to Amazon S3.
• Built sophisticated cache invalidation and refresh processes timed to certain reveal hours or to manually activated by a team member during a reveal on a television broadcast.

This architecture successfully handled 8,000+ concurrent users during peak events while maintaining complete editorial control. The solution included unobtrusive auto-refreshing for real-time updates without requiring page reloads, along with fully responsive design accommodating devices from desktop to mobile. Legacy browser support ensured accessibility for Wine Spectator’s broad demographic audience. The end result delivered the ideal balance: intuitive editing for content teams and lightning-fast performance during the high-stakes wine reveals.

Features

• Dynamic Wine Countdown System - Created a sophisticated reveal system, using precise timing controls to unveil each wine at scheduled moments.
• Multi-Year Archive - Developed a unified platform archiving all past years’ lists in a consistent format, improving SEO and creating a valuable historical resource.
• Integrated Video Content - Featured wine presentations with cutomzied embeds that optimized playback across all devices and connection speeds.
• In-depth Wine Profile Page - Provided a detailed and engaging experience for users to learn about individual wines through customized videos and tasting information along with historical context.

Business Impact

• Eliminated Downtime: Since implementation in 2014, the site has maintained 100% uptime during peak traffic events with no major server failures
• Editorial Efficiency: Dramatically reduced the time required for editors to publish and update content
• Development Resources: Freed up significant development resources by automating previously manual processes, and having a reusable site year after year
• Consistent User Experience: Provided a uniform experience across all years of the Top 100 list
• Subscription Driver: Continues to serve as a significant driver of new subscriptions and renewals
• Longevity: The solution has proven so effective and adaptable that it remains in use from 2014 through 2025 with iterative improvements

Long-term Success

The longevity of this solution demonstrates its exceptional design and adaptability. Through yearly refinements the platform has evolved to incorporate new features while maintaining its core performance advantages. This approach has delivered exceptional ROI for Wine Spectator while consistently meeting the high expectations of wine enthusiasts worldwide.

The Top 100 platform stands as a prime example of how thoughtful technical architecture can solve business challenges while ensuring people can enjoy their passions to the utmost.