Jane Anson has lived in Bordeaux since 2003 and is author of six major wine books: Inside Bordeaux (BB&R Press 2020), Haut-Bailly (First Press Editions 2021), Wine Revolution (Quarto 2017), The Club of Nine (Katz Publishing 2016), Angélus (Editions de la Martiniere, 2016), and Bordeaux Legends, a history of the 1855 First Growth wines (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2013, and re-released as an NFT ebook in 2022); she is also co-author or translator of over a dozen wine and travel books.

She has won several awards, including Louis Roederer Wine Online Communicator of the Year 2020, and Born Digital Best Editorial 2020. She is also winner of the IWSC 2023 Wine Communicator Trophy.

Jane Anson was the first woman to deliver the André Simon lecture for the International Wine and Food Society since the lecture series began in 1971, speaking in June 2020 on the subject of terroir in Bordeaux. After almost 20 years as Bordeaux correspondent and columnist for Decanter magazine, she has now launched her own website, janeanson.com

She is a graduate of the DUAD tasting diploma with the Bordeaux Institute of Oenology and an accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux Ecole du Vin.

What would you consider was the most important decision of your career in wine?

To realise that I had to make things happen for myself and not wait for job advancements to be offered. For me, that meant deciding to take the DUAD tasting diploma at the Bordeaux School of Oenology and to write a book about the First Growths back in 2012 and hustling enough to make it happen! There are many wine journalists out there, so investing in yourself is crucial.

Do you consider your career progression to be conventional?

No, in that I didn't work in the wine trade before writing about wine, I wasn't employed full-time by a wine publication, and I didn't have an agent for my first book (or rather I did have an agent, but as he didn't place the book with a publisher, I went a different route to find one rather than giving up). Having said that I had been a journalist and editor-in-chief of non-wine publications/websites beforehand, so was bringing writing experience, and was living full-time in a wine region, so of course had access to the source material.

Do you consider yourself a disruptor – how?

I am not sure that is for me to judge, but I hope that starting the Bordeaux Mentor Week with my friend Chinedu Rita-Rosa will help to just slightly disrupt the closed nature of Bordeaux.

Do you consider yourself/your business to be agile amid a changing media landscape?

I still love writing books which is of course old media, but I primarily communicate online and through podcasts, and during the pandemic did a lot of online wine tastings. Leaving an established wine media publication to launch my own site was partly done in recognition that it is important to own my own tasting notes, and data, in a changing media landscape. And I also now do more in-person events, partly to be honest because I enjoyed the online tastings so much during the pandemic, and I love the energy of being in a room sharing the experience of a great wine.

What is the level of knowledge of your wine audience ie what percentage are collectors, investors, keen amateurs

My subscribers have a generally high level of knowledge, with a relatively even split of the different groups, but I always love to see how many are keen amateurs rather than professionals in the wine trade. But I always try, even for professionals, to keep writing clear and precise, because good writing about any subject should be enjoyable and digestible.

Long-form writing is a (somewhat) old-fashioned medium - do you think there's still a place for it in today’s world?

100%. Nothing gives me more pleasure than writing books, and right now I am at the start of a new one, at that wonderful moment of research and delving into new worlds that makes me happier than anything else! Similarly, long-form articles that you find in (for example) the New Yorker or World of Fine Wine remain one of the true pleasures of writing and reading.

What is your attitude toward influencers? Are there any that you particularly rate?

I try to always keep in mind that you can only worry about how you are doing your own job, and to keep on trying to push yourself to improve. Keeping that in mind, my attitude to influencers or other more traditional wine writers would be exactly the same – respect if they are doing a good job. Sommeliers can be amazing wine influencers, and people such Pascaline Lepeltier and Isis Daniel are doing great work, as is Germaine Stone (his Saskia de Rothshild interview was so good https://wineandhiphop.com/podcasts/episode-76-bronx-ii-bordeaux-featuring-saskia-de-rothschild).  

What are your views on the current wine landscape and where do you see it going?

Fractured, obviously, increasingly so. Great content is essential, but not enough.

If you’re starting out as a wine commentator should you be a generalist or a specialist?

The issue with wine writing is how to make it financially viable. For that to really work, my personal suggestion is not to do things for free, to develop your knowledge and invest in yourself, and to specialise.

Do you try to include a ‘lifestyle’ element – ie gastronomy, travel, music etc – in your writing? Is it important? Is it becoming important/common?

Yes, because I enjoy the wider aspects of wine, and so try to share that. And because it's about balance, as in all things. But when I'm writing about wine, I take it seriously, and make sure that I know the subject that I am covering, and keep to the basics of journalism - do the research, interview directly, check and check again, put things in context. And respect the reader.