To celebrate our 25th anniversary - and my 50th(!) anniversary writing about wine - we’re planning a very special dinner in San Francisco on 30 October. Members will be eligible for a discount on tickets, and a proportion of the ticket price will go to the Gérard Basset Foundation.
More specific details will follow on Wednesday.
(We’re also planning a celebration in London in November. Hold on for details of that one.)
Details of the 30 October dinner at The Morris in San Francisco are here.
But if you can’t make that very special dinner, we have another event designed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this website and my 50th anniversary of writing about wine. From 10am on the morning of Wednesday 29 October at Copia in Napa, Sam, Alder and I will be presenting our thoughts on the past, present and future of wine, to be followed by a reception featuring English sparkling wine. Josh Greene will be moderating.
We’ll be publishing full details but as a member you can already secure a ticket here.
Very pleased that there’s a less costly (elitist?) event at which to celebrate 25 years. Such an expensive event seems to counter the original jancisrobinson.com vibe which was to stoke the interest and educate the day-to-day wine (potential) drinker without sponsorship or agenda. $2750 for a couple appears target the wealthy - you should find plenty of technocrats clammering to join. Meanwhile, we’ll get up early to get to Napa in the same way we drove to UC Davis to celebrate the donation of Jancis’ papers or researched book signings to find one at CIA Copia which didn’t involve a costly ticket. I hope that the price tag is not as a result of the change in ownership of jancisrobinson.com and its talented community. Nigel Taverner.
Nigel – Glad you can make it to the Copia event. I hear you about how different media is today than it was a decade or two ago.
There is, in fact, a lot of tech money in both new media and traditional media – and a website like JancisRobinson.com would, in today’s media landscape, be considered traditional media. Jancis is still at the helm, with Tara Q. Thomas at her side managing all the editorial. I know both Jancis and Tara well, and can speak to their integrity as journalists, though, really, no one needs to.
Are they elitist? Not in my perception. They may be strict about their reporting ethics, and demand the same of their team and contributors. But if you want an elitist publication, you would have to look elsewhere.
Meanwhile, we are fortunate to have investors who are financing major upgrades to the technology that supports our reporting – without, in any way, getting involved in that reporting. This is crucial in today’s media market. In the coming months, I hope you will find our vast trove of reporting and wine data more readily accessible through significant upgrades in search and presentation.
Yes, you are right, our 25th Anniversary Dinner in San Francisco is not an occasion everyone will be able to afford. We are planning three anniversary celebrations, and two of them are significantly more affordable – one in Napa, as you have found; another, to be announced, in London.
Had we organized this 25th Anniversary Dinner 50 years ago, when Jancis got her start, the equivalent wines to those we are pouring would be significantly more affordable. I recall, when I first got into this business more than 40 years ago, I was able to buy Roumier Chambolle Musigny for $25 a bottle on release. Yes, $25 in 1980s money, equivalent, according to Google’s Gemini, to $98 today. Roumier Chambolle is now $390 on release, not $98. A 25-year-old bottle of Cheval Blanc and a 50-year-old bottle of Yquem would cost a fraction of what they sell for today. The fine wine market has changed as much as media.
So, if we set out to celebrate the remarkable career of the woman we consider the greatest wine writer of our times, would you have us do so with lesser wines?
—Josh Greene (the guy organizing the events at The Morris and Copia)
@JancisRobinson kindly suggested that I post here with an invitation to join The Old Vine Conference tastings and panels taking place at in Napa, Sonoma and Lodi from 31st October to 4th November 2025.
We kick off on 31st October with a Gala Dinner and Tasting of incredible old-vine wine, and an opening session with Jancis Robinson and Paul Draper in conversation on why the genetic and cultural value of heritage vineyards is so important, yet threatened.
On 1st November, our main conference day, Alder Yarrow is leading a panel on how The Old Vine Registry is laying the foundations for a sustainable ‘heritage vineyards’ wine category.
Started by JR and team as a spreadsheet log 10 years ago, the registry - under Alder’s leadership - has become an award-winning and critical resource recording this precious resource.
We are also hosting field trips to incredible old-vine vineyards in Sonoma, Lodi, and Contra Costa. Oh, and there are some lovely dinners with great wines, too. All proceeds go to the non-profit Old Vine Conference and our fellow non-profit parter, ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers).
Tickets start from $125 (for tasting and dinner in Lodi), and go to $2000 for the full 5 days.
I’m updating this post with a discount code and ticket shop link, with Tara’s blessing!
jancis15 (for 15% off) at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/zapoldvineconference/1635808.
10% of these ticket purchases will go additionally to The Old Vine Registry (www.oldvineregistry.org).)
Full details on the sessions and tastings are at www.oldvines.org.
Thanks for reading, and to Jancis for the leadership in the old-vine global movement.