29th May

Yahoo Answers Poll Reveal English Wine Drinking Habits

Raise a Glass to English Wine

• One per cent of respondents drink English wine on a regular basis
• Forty per cent of the those polled have never tried English wine

When it comes to choosing red and white, the English celebrate it on their flag but not in the bottle.

With English Wine Week approaching on May 26, Yahoo! Answers has commissioned a survey to test the country’s patriotism and knowledge of English Wine.  Results have shown that, although there are nearly 350 vineyards in England, only one per cent of those polled regularly enjoy a glass of English wine.  This is startling when you consider that Britain spent more than £10 billion on wine and champagne last year.*

It was also revealed that 40 per cent of respondents have never even tasted England’s wine and a fifth of those are completely unaware that it is produced on these shores at all.  The survey also revealed that the majority (78 per cent) had not even heard of Reichensteiner which is a popular wine currently being produced in England. Nearly one in five (19 per cent) thought it was a beer, while others polled thought it was a German footballer or a breed of dog.

To help raise awareness with the nation, Matt Skinner, head of Wine Operations at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurant in London, will be appearing on Yahoo! Answers during English Wine Week to answer questions and increase understanding about English wine. 

He said:  “People know so little about English wine so it's great that a vehicle like Yahoo! Answers can provide a platform where people can learn more about the subject through asking questions. When I was first approached to try English wine I too was sceptical but, after my first glass, I was amazed.”

In addition to Matt’s appearance as a guest expert, Yahoo! Answers boasts a thriving community of food and drink enthusiasts.  Peter F May, or ‘Pontac’ as he is known to the Answers community, is a Yahoo! Answers user and wine expert who visits the site regularly to answer queries about wine.

‘The British tend to view foreign products as superior to our own when, in fact, the English produce some of the best sparkling wine,’ says Peter.  ‘I have been a wine enthusiast for years, as both a writer and lecturer on the topic. It's great to be able to take part in a community such as Yahoo! Answers to share knowledge on this subject’

Yahoo! Answers is a key resource for inquiring minds to learn more about food and drink, or any other topic for that matter.  With more than 17 million unique users in Europe** and 250 million answers worldwide, Yahoo! Answers is a thriving, global knowledge-sharing community, where the public is invited to pose their own questions on any topic, share answers based on expertise, personal experience or opinion or explore what information others are sharing.  

Further findings:

• Women are more open to trying English wine than men (Only 3% of women questioned said they wouldn’t touch English wine as opposed to 9% of men questioned)
• Londoners and the Scots are the least likely people to drink English wine
• 24 per cent of respondents said they would prefer to support British goods if they could
• 1 in 10 people polled believe that there is not enough expertise in England for wine production
• Almost half (43%) of those polled believed there were less than 50 vineyards in England while there are actually close to 350

• 24% of people polled believed that there is too much rain or the climate is too cold to produce good quality wine in England at all
• For those who haven’t tried English wine 25 – 34 year olds are the most open to trying it, while those above 55 were the most against it
• For those that have tried it, English wine was the biggest hit with the over 55’s with 41% the over 55’s who had tried it saying they liked it.
• 10% of people in the 35–44 year old category who had tried English wine didn’t like it

• 29% of people in 18 – 24 category claimed to not drink wine at all, it was also this age group that were the least aware that we produced wine in this country

Notes to editors:

All statistics have been commissioned and calculated by Yahoo! Answers based on a survey conducted by YouGov using a poll of 2,087 respondents from 4th- 8th May 2007.

*Mintel, 2007

**Comscore March 2007 

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!'s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

About Matt Skinner

Matt Skinner, Head of Wine Operations for Fifteen restaurant’s world wide, has a knack for making wine simple.  Matt has contributed to a number of publications including Conde Nast Traveller, Red Magazine, The Guardian, Amazon.com & Penthouse USA.  Matt also has a regular column in Waitrose Food Illustrated and appears as a regular guest on ITV’s Saturday Cooks, Daily Cooks, UK Food’s Great Food Live & Food Uncut.

About Peter F May

Peter F May, is a regular wine expert on Yahoo! Answers. Known as Pontac among the Yahoo! Answers community his wine qualifications include WSET Certificate and a WSET Higher Certificate with Honours. Peter has been a wine enthusiast for years and has travelled extensively visiting vineyards throughout Europe and the US.  Peter visits and answers questions on Yahoo! Answers regularly, finding it a very useful community to find out what questions are popular among society and what people want to know. Peter has also written a book called Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape available in the US and UK

For further information, please contact

Gemma Bull 020 7413 3040 Gemma.Bull@hillandknowlton.com