The Jancis Robinson Interview
Jancis Robinson is a veritable force in the wine industry. Her expertise, her knowledge base and impeccable palate are recognized around the globe. She is widely acknowledged to be the preeminent authority in the world on wine regions, wine tasting and wine literature.
Most of the great books on wine that we browse at Borders, Barnes and Nobles or Amazon were written by her. The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd Edition, Tasting Pleasure: Confessions of a Wine Lover, Jancis Robinson’s How to Taste in the U.S. are but a few of the wonderful books that she has authored. She is prolific in that she also has the bandwidth to pen a regular column in the Financial Times and is now responsible, with Hugh Johnson, for the World Atlas of Wine.
She began writing in 1975 as an assistant editor for the wine trade publication Wine and Spirit. She is impressively educated, having studied mathematics and philosophy at Oxford University. It was in 1984 that she emerged as the first person outside the wine industry to become a Master of Wine. Moreover, she provides consulting services and subsequent recommendations for England’s Queen Elizabeth’s private wine cellar.
At her level there are but a handful of peers. Mention Parker, then watch as the list begins to grow short. The wine world relished in the media fueled fracas a few years ago over her and Parker’s difference of opinion over a 2003 vintage Château Pavie.
She is both charming and candid. It was in 2008 while speaking to the WineCreator conference in Spain that she told her audience ‘We must always remember that we are parasites on the business of winemaking.’ She went on to urge her fellow wine critics to be humble and honest. Her admonition in Spain seemed to come from possessing a keen insight into the real power of words and the considerable influence wielded by wine writers. The notion of urging colleagues to weigh thoughts and measure words rings of an Edward R. Murrow kind of integrity.
We were honored that she agreed to our interview request.
Tell us if you can your most pleasurable experience with wine. Where were you and what was the wine?
It was a 1959 Chambolle-Musigny, Les Amoureuses – almost certainly from de Vogue, though I didn’t know that the name of the grower was so important then, encountered at a restaurant called The Rose Revived when I was at Oxford in 1970. Jancis actually elaborates at length on this is an August 2008 post from her blog.
As a writer, how do you manage to keep your enthusiasm for wine so sincere, so fresh? Does it ever seem like sometimes it just comes down to rote?
I am always fascinated by new developments., The world of wine is constantly expanding. Even I keep visiting new wine regions (British Columbia and Turkey in the last two months) and there is always a new vintage and new producers to explore. Even after a day spent tasting I almost always sip a glass of wine with my dinner.
You have authored so many great wine books. Is there one that seems more special than the others?
I suppose The Oxford Companion to Wine is the one I am proudest of as I created it from nothing and it has come to be so helpful, people tell me, to wine enthusiasts and professionals alike. I now have a wonderful assistant, Julia Harding MW, who helps me keep it up to date with each new edition, We’re on to the third between hard covers now, which is also available online thereby obviating the need for weightlifting.
Who are your favorite writers and what is that you enjoy most about them?
I shall assume you mean wine writers…?
We do.
I think Gerald Asher and Hugh Johnson are the most elegant wine writers I know, with Andrew Jefford particularly poetic and well-informed. Among many excellent American wine writers, Matt Kramer and Michael Steinberger know how to craft especially compelling columns.
Robert Parker’s Bordeaux and Rhone books are a model of how to present information and opinion in the clearest possible way. I’ve also enjoyed George Taber’s books on corks and The Judgment of Paris and Lawrence Osborne’s The Accidental Connoisseur.
We love that you will occasionally decant a white wine. Does that surprise guests who might find that quite unexpected or a bit unusual?
They usually seem to think I know what I’m doing.
Has your phenomenal success and influence in the wine world surprised you?
Definitely!
You have published your blog for a number of years and are prolific there. Has the addition of new platforms like Twitter, Facebook and video added exponentially to your work load?
Funnily enough, just before answering these questions, I was wondering to myself how on earth I would find the time to service Facebook in addition to Twitter and JancisRobinson.com which usually has three new articles every weekday! I keep being told I should be on Facebook, but how on earth will I find the time?
