'Wine, food, words and family-loving workaholic" is how Jancis Robinson describes herself on her Twitter account. She has an impressive 236,000 followers. The family part is husband Nick Landers, consultant and food writer for The Financial Times, where Robinson has a weekly column. Son Will Landers is joint-owner of the Quality Chop House in London and recently opened a second restaurant, Portland. The workaholic bit is certainly justified; Robinson is a one-woman industry, author or editor of countless books including Vines, Grapes and Vines, now superseded by a new book Wine Grapes, jointly authored with Julia Harding and Dr José Vouillamoz. She is also editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine and joint author of The World Atlas of Wine. All are essential reference works for anyone with a serious interest in wine, and they demonstrate her ability to explain complex subjects without dumbing down.
In September, the fourth edition of The Oxford Companion will be published, and she is writing, she says, "a very short guide on how to become a wine expert".
Robinson is one of the few wine critics to create a financially successful online model. She won't say how many subscribers she has to her website Purple Pages as it changes daily.
“I think it is quite rare to have any website that blows its nose financially,” she says. “I don’t cost in all the hours I spend. It has become just something I enjoy doing and keeps me very, very busy.” It charges a monthly subscription of £6.99 (€9.70), and has a team of 11 tasters, mostly masters of wine, a full-time administrator and guest contributors. The team covers all the classic areas comprehensively, but is unique in its ability to cover up-and-coming regions too.
“It started out very small in 2000 with a pitiful budget. I was really enjoying it and spending far too much time on it, as was my techie guy, so we decided to try to make it pay. We got three members in the first half hour and thought this is rather good. It has grown hugely since then.”
Membership gives access to tasting notes, her articles, The Oxford Companion, and the excellent maps from The World Atlas.
In recent months Robinson has addressed the place of women in wine.
“I don’t think women make wine differently. In fact I don’t really think we look for anything very different. It is society’s attitude to how we drink that is different. Society expects men to know about wine, to be able to order wine over dinner with the boss. It’s a rite, like choosing a new car. Women just drink whatever they want. Of course, when scientists rate tasting consistency, women tend to do better. On the downside, the sad truth is women’s bodies are not as capable as absorbing alcohol but I don’t think women abuse wine in a systematic way.”
Robinson is a longtime fan of lighter wines such as Muscadet and Beaujolais. She believes the market is steadily moving in this direction. “Even if consumers say they want dry wines they prefer a little bit of sweetness. Everyone says they don’t want oaky and in theory they don’t want high alcohol wines either. We all enjoy a sip and want another sip and then a glass. Nobody wants to feel groggy the next morning.”
She turns 65 this year but has no plans to retire. “I ought to have a retirement plan but I am enjoying myself so much. I would love to be semi -retired. I work in a wonderful business where there are so many perks and nice things to enjoy, but I just never have the time to take advantage. We both work for national newspapers so maybe we could work part time and travel the world”. Jancis Robinson will speak at the Ballymaloe Litfest, 15th-May 17th. jwilson@irishtimes.com
