Jancis Robinson
Jancis Robinson
As one of the world’s leading wine writers, Jancis Robinson is one of the most influential figures in the wine industry. Her commitment to spreading the word about German Riesling has undoubtedly had a profound effect in changing the views of opinion leaders. Our industry is lucky to have such a strong force to push the German Riesling message.
After a virtually wine-free childhood and teenage years in a village of 46 people in northern Cumbria just south of the Scottish border, Jancis was introduced to wine at Oxford, where she read Maths & Philosophy while being exposed to fine food and wine for the first time. Jancis had long been fascinated by food so it was a very short step to fall in love with wine – something that happened over a glass of Chambolle-Musigny, Les Amoureuses 1959. But at that time the food and wine were regarded as irredeemably frivolous so she spent three years in the travel business, as a graduate trainee with Britain’s biggest holiday company. Following this, Jancis spent a year in Provence, surrounded by vineyards and people to whom eating and drinking were what life was all about. On her return to London Jancis was determined to find a job in either food or wine.
Jancis has now been described by Decanter magazine as 'the most respected wine critic and journalist in the world.’ Jancis Robinson writes daily for JancisRobinson.com (awarded the first ever Wine Website of the Year in the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards 2010), weekly for The Financial Times, and bi-monthly for a column that is syndicated around the world. She is also editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine, co-author with Hugh Johnson of The World Atlas of Wine, and co-author of Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours. Each of these books is recognised as a standard reference worldwide.
An award-winning TV presenter, she travels all over the world to conduct wine events and act as a wine judge. In 1984 she was the first person outside the wine trade to pass the rigorous Master of Wine exams and in 2003 she was awarded an OBE by Her Majesty the Queen, on whose cellar she now advises.
She loves and lives for wine in all its glorious diversity, generally favouring balance and subtlety over sheer mass.