Jancis Robinson photo courtesy of Allan Bree ©

Page 1: The Interview  |  Page 2: Re: Jancis' website, etc.

c – "You mentioned the Financial Times, and I just need to touch on this issue, because it has become a bit of an issue on the Internet, and that’s the community that we (the Gang) relate to.

You mentioned Mr. Parker in your piece…"

JR – "And the (Wine) Spectator."

c – "…and some of what you said was construed as criticism at best, and was even referred to by one person as ‘character assassination’."

JR – "Now I’m glad I don’t look at those things!"

c – "That’s really quite silly (the accusation), but could you speak a bit about what the intent of your remarks about Mr. Parker were?"

JR – "Well, I think it’s all there. It’s certainly not a personal thing, just the right to express another opinion about various wines and wine styles."

c – "Everything else I’ve read when you’ve mentioned him has been…"

JR – "Full of praise. I’ve always said that he’s very diligent, and I admire how hard he works and all that sort of thing. I’m just stating what I see as a fact – that if he – as long as he keeps on rewarding these wines – alcoholic, heavily worked, winemaker determined red Bordeaux such as Gerard Perse’s - with high points, they will keep on being made. As a personal opinion – I personally don’t like them, don’t like this new style, and I’m not alone. What was interesting to me was that I didn’t go to Bordeaux to write that particular story. That story came out, and as a journalist, just sort of took me by the lapels and said: ‘This – that even Right Bank winemakers who once adopted the style are rejecting it - is what’s happening now.’

Every Bordelais that I listened to – had any conversation with – they’re almost embarrassed by this new style. You know, they don’t feel as though it’s Bordeaux.

I realize it almost may have seemed racist, because I happened to mention two American publications, but I’ve got no agenda. I’m just calling it as I see it."

c – "Dan Berger has had similar comments – and I share his opinion – on Zinfandel. The ‘Turleyization’ (my word) of Zinfandel, I think, may lead to the demise of the popularity of the variety, and it’s all in quest of the points. It has led to these high alcohol, super-ripe, over extracted – I shudder to call them wine, because I’ve always thought of wine as an adjunct to a meal, and these beverages are impossible to pair with food, and are impressive only when tasted on their own in a competition. So I think it is not merely a Bordeaux phenomena. It’s starting to infect the entire winemaking community."

JR – "Oh, yes. It’s particularly interesting in Bordeaux, because Bordeaux has such a long tradition, and a very confident tradition of making it’s own style of wine. You would have been hard pressed before the Turleyization of Zinfandel to say: ‘Ah, yes – Zinfandel - there’s a long and noble tradition of California Zinfandel tasting like that.’ It was actually all over the place, wasn’t it?"

c – "It’s been a variety in quest of an identity."

JR – "Yes, yes. Personally, I love the Ridge style – that’s probably where I come from and the agebility of those. But what’s very interesting about Bordeaux is that here is a long history, a long tradition which has been subverted, if you like, into another style. Not that everybody’s doing it, by any means, but a place that should have been confident enough of it’s own traditions has proved not to be, and has been making wines – I do think - for the market. And the market is dictated by Parker points and Spectator points, whether we like it or not.

I mean, I’m allowed to say: ‘I like this sort of wine, surely, and I don’t like that sort of wine.’ There’s no suggestion that Parker’s not being consistent, and following his taste. This is the whole point of wine – that there are different tastes in it, and that’s why I think it’s dangerous that the market’s being dictated by only one.

I dread to think what people are saying about me, but it’s just a journalistic comment – a factual comment of what I have observed in Bordeaux."

c –"There’s less there than meets the eye."

JR – "There’s a lot less there than meets the eye." (laughter)

c – "Is there a particular winery or winemaker you admire most?"

JR – "The world over? Gosh, that’s very, very difficult. Like ‘what’s your favorite bit of music?’ I don’t think I could answer – no, I’m sorry."

c – "Is there a variety or a region that you enjoy drinking the most?"

JR – "No, sorry." (laughter)

c – "No, that really tells me quite a bit."

JR – "I do love the variety. I have a soft spot for underdogs, I suppose, so Riesling gets a lot of attention from me, because I know the rest of the world doesn’t follow it – although I think it is increasingly.

No, it’s wine in all its glorious variety."

c – "Excellent. Is there a critic whose work you particularly admire? You seem to get along very well with Mr. (Hugh) Johnson. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the opening of Copia."

JR – "Oh, yes. Well obviously to do a book together (the 5^th edition of the World Atlas of Wine) you have got to have mutual respect and get on – yes, we get on very well.

I’ve certainly admired the amount of effort that Bob Parker has put into wine writing, I mean the detail… If you look on my site, I wrote a great paean of praise to his Bordeaux book and all the information in there – (it’s) an excellent reference – only the other day.

There’s a younger colleague of mine in England who writes very well called Andrew Jefford. And Gerald Asher has a nice sort of urbane take on everything, I think. But I’m sure there are lots of others who are wonderful and I just can’t think of them at the moment."

c – "What else would you like the Internet community to know about you?"

JR – "I don’t want to assassinate anybody. (laughter) But, please, am I not allowed to express a view? It’s funny that people would pick up on the last paragraph of that Financial Times article. It’s nice that they read that far, or perhaps only one person read that far.

The trouble with the Internet is people pickup – they can just pickup a phrase, can’t they? And then broadcast that around – at least with print, you can force people to read the whole thing.

Certainly, I think like all of us, there’s one thing we’ve all learned – and Parker’s always said it: the danger of points. As soon as he used points, (he) pointed out the dangers of them, and they have become exaggerated in their power. I’m sure he never wanted that. And I would certainly not want to over…or to exaggerate the importance of such points as (would) ever appear on my site – I think we all agree it’s the comments and the sentiments that are more important."

Unfortunately, our time together was limited by her travel schedule. A taxicab was waiting to take her to a return flight to London.

I suppose what impressed me the most about Jancis was her concern that discourse about wine remain civil. It is her style to refer to her colleagues in courteous terms, and she seems bemused that others do not behave in a similar fashion. The aggressive nature of the Internet community in the United States appears to contrast with her experience with the rest of the world’s wine community.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet and speak with her, and I urge you all to visit her website –

www.jancisrobinson.com – and take advantage of this lady’s superb knowledge of wines of the world.

Oh yeah - she ordered the pancakes.

califusa
Left Coast Correspondent for the Gang of Pour

Page 2: Re: Jancis' website, etc.

BACK TO THE TOP

© Allan Bree July 2002