"It is the site which, on the face of it, nearly has it all, and is worthy of A*. Yet it doesn’t leave me satisfied. I have thought about this site more than any of the others because I have struggled to solve the puzzle – how do I reconcile its apparent excellence with my disappointment? After all, it can’t be me who is wrong….
Respected across the world for her
wine knowledge, she is the Doyenne of the wine industry - intelligent,
organized, keen, serious, thorough, conservative, slightly self-important and a
bit of a goodie-goodie. So orderly and correct is her site, you feel like you
are being shown around a Convent by its Head Girl. But what JancisRobinson.com really
needs is a smidgeon of decadence, moral laxity and self-indulgence - think cigars,
Cuban bars, gambling, booze, gossip, scandal, anything to alleviate the boredom.
Or may be it just needs some simple love and soul.
The
stand-out attributes of JancisRobinson.com (and Burghound for that matter) are its
wealth of knowledge but also its general boringness. Both sites are certainly examples
of substance over style, which, let’s face it, is rare in this world of gloss
and self-publicity. Their sites are on-line text books, a place to gather facts
quickly and leave rather than linger to seek inspiration.
I
always think of Voltaire’s famous quote when perusing Jancis’ web site: “Le
secret d'ennuyer est celui de tout dire” (the secret of being a bore is to tell
everything). You see, knowledge alone isn’t enough for me so this isn’t a site
which tempts me into staying long.
Everything
seems to be in order. It is very well laid out and organized, revealing a huge
source of vinous information. Jancis and her team (which she rather self-importantly
calls ‘Team JR’) generate prolific output – the site provides some global
coverage and does print, web and (poor quality) video. There are news, views,
features, tasting notes, maps, an events diary, access to the Oxford companion,
expertise, information on food and wine stores, restaurants, discussion forums and
recommendations.
It
is the site which, on the face of it,
nearly has it all, and is worthy of A*. Yet it doesn’t leave me satisfied. I
have thought about this site more than any of the others because I have
struggled to solve the puzzle – how do I reconcile its apparent excellence with
my disappointment? After all, it can’t be me who is wrong…
I
have concluded that for all its wisdom and knowledge, what it lacks is passion,
colour and humour in most of the writing compared to many of the other wine sites.
And it provides little insight into the people who make the wine. I will get
accused of generalising but this is my overriding impression after years of
reading Jancis.Robinson.com and related articles.
Many
articles and notes are distilled into a faultless presentation of facts and
conclusions, like a technically perfect but dull exam answer. Or perhaps a
better analogy would be a faultless but utterly uninteresting wine. I am not
after quantified, laboratory-standard accuracy or perfect results and opinions;
but I do want to be seduced by the subject matter. I want some passion, wit and
controversy in the writing because how the knowledge is conveyed is as
important at the knowledge itself. The writing is often just too factual and wooden.
Others may like this clipped style but I don’t. I know this is my style
preference which determines this very subjective point of view, but this is
what I think.
What
do I mean by passion? I mean people who, because of how they write tasting
notes, can get my mouth watering, drawing me momentarily into their sensory
world, allowing me to experience what they experience regularly. Someone who
can get me excited about a subject by sheer force of personality, affection for
the subject, writing style and knowledge, and make me want to travel to the
wine regions they are visiting and describing. Knowledge alone can’t do this
and that is why JancisRobinson.com doesn’t ‘do it’ for me. Conversely, Parker, Molesworth
and others do.
However,
I do like the look of Alex Hunt, one of her contributors. His rapid fire, more irreverent and pugnacious
writing style is much more appealing than much of the other tedious and bland
stuff on the site, including Yellow Arrow’s, I mean Alder Yarrow’s. With the
exception of a few of his articles, I can’t get past paragraph two. His writing
can be insufferably dull and stiff, just like a starched white, button-downed
shirt worn by a lawyer in a John Grisham novel. Please oh please provide some more
interesting insight, wit, colour, passion… anything to relieve the boredom.
When
I read the sites, articles and tasting notes of James Molesworth/WS or Robert Parker
or Jamie Goode or John Livingstone-Learmonth, their writing seduces me into
wanting to taste the wines and visit the growers, but I never feel that with JancisRobinson.com.
I look to the writer to reveal the life and soul of the wines. I am as
interested in the context (stories, history, food, people, sport – their whole
culture) of wine as much as what is in the glass because this conveys so much
more to me than the simple recital of intricate flavours and aromas. Yes the
latter are important but I need more.
Jancis’
site is centred on tasting notes, and while there is some information on
growers, it isn’t enough or particularly easy to find. Compare it for example
with Parker’s site where the grower information is everywhere and can be found alongside
the tasting notes. Or James Molesworth/WS where the producers feature as much
as the wines.
Some
will disagree but the role of the wine critic, in my view, is not just to
educate and inform but to entertain too, and JancisRobinson.com doesn’t do this
for me. Parker’s site and James Molesworth/WS are full of knowledge but they
evince passion and style as well.
Jancis
– please bring more passion, humour, controversy, irreverence and colour to
balance your undoubted expertise.
But
trying to put aside my subjective preferences (like a good critic tries to do),
if it is knowledge and information you are after, it is an impressive site. She
clearly runs an impressive operation and has a very knowledgeable team
supporting her.
Her
tasting notes are quite pithy but understandable: Here’s an example of one:
René Rostaing, Côte Blonde 2009 Côte
Rôtie
Scented
and concentrated. Very fresh and pointed. For the moment very youthful indeed.
A little inky on the end. For Rostaing this is quite dramatic! It will need
quite a while.
Here
are my scores for Jancis and jancisrobinson.com:
Jancis
Robinson and jancisrobinson.com
|
Generalist
web site and publication, suitable for all consumer groups but notably the
trade and expert enthusiast.
|
Criteria
|
Score
|
Comments
|
Web
site look, functionality and ease of use: up to 15 points
|
13
|
The web site is a very good
example for any consumer-based site. It is well designed and works very well.
It is suitable for all consumer groups. However, it is considerably weaker on
video that WS and James Suckling.
|
Ability
to inform the consumer (keep them up to date on news and events): up to 15
points
|
14
|
Very regular updates across a wide
variety of topics
|
Ability
to educate the consumer (provide depth and breadth of content): up to 15
points
|
13
|
The site has excellent depth and
breadth of content. It is right up there with the best sites although it
could use video better.
|
Ability
to entertain the consumer (so the information and education is easy
to
assimilate and enjoy): up to 15 points
|
11
|
This site is more about educating
and informing than entertaining. It uses all the media (articles, blogs,
videos) in a simple way so is capable of communicating effectively even if
the writing lacks colour. It could improve a lot on its use of videos – quite
limited and not slick.
|
Quality
of tasting notes: up to 15 points
|
13
|
Jancis and her team write clearly
and concisely but it lacks the evocative, purple prose of Parker and
Molesworth
|
Overall
impression: ability to communicate with target audience, using both online
and print media: up to 25 points
|
22
|
It is an impressive site and
source of information even though it lacks some love and soul.
|
Total
|
86
|
A grade
|
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