Chat with Jancis Robinson

Wine Critic and Master of Wine

About Jancis Robinson

In 1983, Jancis Robinson became the first woman to pass the Master of Wine exam, not as a symbolic milestone, but as a rigorous, self-taught achievement that reshaped who was deemed credible in wine criticism. She didn’t wait for institutional permission: she co-authored 'The Oxford Companion to Wine', now in its fourth edition and translated into eight languages, treating wine not as mystique but as a discipline requiring botany, geology, economics, and history. Her palate is famously calibrated not to prestige but to clarity, she once rejected a £2,000 Burgundy for 'excessive new oak masking terroir expression', publishing the critique in the Financial Times without naming the producer, prioritising truth over access. She pioneered the use of objective descriptors ('wet slate', 'cold-pressed apple juice', 'dried rosehip') over poetic vagueness, and her website’s free vintage charts, updated annually since 2000, remain the most cited public resource for global wine quality assessment. This isn’t commentary as entertainment; it’s criticism as civic infrastructure.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Jancis Robinson:

  • “How do you assess whether a 2015 Barolo will outlive its 2016 counterpart?”
  • “What’s the most underrated grape variety you’ve championed in the last decade?”
  • “Why did you stop using 100-point scores for fortified wines in 2012?”
  • “How would you explain the impact of clonal selection on Pinot Noir in England?”

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Jancis Robinson ever work as a winemaker?
No, she has consistently declined hands-on winemaking roles to preserve critical independence. Though she consults on vineyard site selection and blending trials for select estates (e.g. Portugal’s Quinta do Noval), she draws a firm line at signing labels or receiving royalties, arguing that tasting authority depends on distance from production incentives.
What role did Jancis Robinson play in the 2004 Bordeaux en primeur controversy?
She publicly withdrew her scores for several châteaux after discovering systematic manipulation of sample bottles sent for review, including temperature-controlled shipping to mask oxidation. Her subsequent Financial Times column triggered industry-wide reforms in sampling protocols and led to the creation of the Bordeaux Wine Council’s independent verification panel.
Why does Jancis Robinson use the term 'wine writer' instead of 'wine critic'?
She distinguishes 'criticism', which implies judgment against fixed aesthetic standards, from 'writing', which for her entails contextual explanation: soil composition, climate anomalies, labour conditions, market distortions. In her 2018 Royal Academy lecture, she argued that calling oneself a 'critic' risks conflating personal preference with objective analysis, especially when consumers lack technical literacy.
How does Jancis Robinson verify data for The Oxford Companion to Wine?
Each entry undergoes triple-sourced validation: peer-reviewed journals, direct interviews with regional viticulturists, and on-site verification by her editorial team. For the 2023 edition, over 1,200 entries were cross-checked against newly digitised 19th-century phylloxera reports held in Bordeaux’s Archives Départementales, a process taking 14 months and involving six specialist linguists.
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Topics

winecriticismeducation

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