Some of you know that I have a (not so) secret crush on Jancis Robinson, master of wine and great friend of riesling from the early days when no one was talking up riesling. Her 1996 German edition of “Weinkurs” (published as “Wine Course” in 1995) was my go to book when I first began looking and reading into wine more. Her Oxford Companion to wine is seen as one of the great encyclopedias on wine (I don’t own it, so I don’t know how good it is).
Jancis Robinson with a riesling tattoo
What I have liked about her most though is her writing style. She has a wonderful effortlessness about her writing. She picks her readers up and transports us to the places and wines she tries. It is a great gift, I think.
I was reminded of how much I like her when I read this piece on Financial Times the other day. She is writing about a wine region in Germany that not many know: the Nahe. A tributary to the Rhine, it is one of the smaller wine growing regions and usually overshadowed by Mosel and Rheingau. Over the last 15 years however, some extraordinary vintners have given it new glory. Names like Dönnhoff, Emmrich-Schönleber and Kruger-Rumpf now have a place on the German wine map, and are pretty well known abroad, too. Taking Werner Schönleber’s birthday celebration as the occasion, she has produced a wonderfully intimate piece on this interesting and off the beaten track region in Germany. So much to explore!
Have a great Sunday!
Jancis Robinson, The new Nahe, Financial Times September 7, 2012
the winegetter 
Jancis is totally my girl crush (meaning less of an actual crush and more like I’d ultimately love to be her bestie and pick her brain all the time). With such a male-dominated industry, it’s really awesome to see you give such good props to, in my opinion, the greatest wine expert who ever lived :) Love this posting!
P.S. Her Oxford Companion is such an amazing resource and I continue to use it through all my WSET studies. You should totally grab a copy!
Thanks!! Like I said, I think she is awesome…and I guess my crush is also more brain related…:)
I know I should pick up a copy of her Companion. I also want to restock on her older books. Maybe some Christmas wishes there…
Very interesting. I don’t remember if I ever had any Rieslings from Nahe, but I will try to find something – seems that they are freely available in US.
Yes, the top producers are very available here. As indicated, I only had a few, and I never bought a bottle myself. I was just too focused on Mosel rieslings. Will try to squeeze a visit to the valley in on my next trip…