Wine writer Malcolm Gluck announced today that he's been forced to concede defeat in his attempts to get his wine-ratings website Superplonk up and running again. In a personal email to Superplonk subscribers, Malcolm explained its loss had been a huge personal blow but didn’t say why his website suddenly stopped working several months ago.

Launched in 2000, the Superplonk website was an extension of Malcolm’s weekly Saturday Guardian column of the same name. Finishing with over 8000 ratings of supermarket wines, the website originally started with his previous 11 years of Guardian Superplonk reviews.

This free wine database had been gradually turning into a paid-for wine magazine. Adding the section Superplonk world of wine allowed Malcolm to include features he had written on his travels to wine tastings around the world. If you have any current subscriptions to this section, claim a refund by emailing Malcolm at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

With no more Superplonk reviews to write, Malcolm will now go and forget about tasting wine for a few weeks saying, “After 18 years non-stop you can, perhaps, appreciate that this break is welcome even if the circumstances which have forced it upon me are heart-breaking.”