Jancis Robinson - Pinot Noir and Merlot

Jancis Robinson is a well known wine expert - her books sell very well and are written with a great wealth of both knowledge and humor. I was quite eager to watch her DVDs and see how enjoyable they were. I did find them informative, but they were also a bit pretentious, in some cases seeming to pick on the people being interviewed. I think I would have enjoyed them more if they were overviews of the wines and regions, with helpful pairing suggestions. Instead in some cases Jancis' videos seem to be more 'investigative exposes' on the troublemakers in the wine regions.

Pinot Noir
For Pinot Noir, Jancis jumps right into Burgundy. Yes, Pinot Noir is grown there, but it's also grown elsewhere. It would have been more helpful (especially for newbies) to first talk about the grape in general and the various locations around the world that it's done well. Despite starting in Burgundy, Jancis is quick to pick on their current output. She says that barely 33% of the Burgundies are successes and that 80% are disappointments. Does this mean that 13% of Burgundies are successful but disappointing? She goes on to say that "some of these wines are produced in minute quantities," some wineries only putting out 600 bottles.

Then Jancis gets into the tension between Burgundy and Oregon, who apparently she feels is the only other main producer of Pinot Noir. Apparently some in Burgundy feel that Oregon shouldn't make pinot, that it belongs in Burgundy only. On the other hand, the Oregonians Jancis interviewed had never been to Burgundy and didn't want to. Having talked with winemakers in both locations who felt far differently, it almost seemed that Jancis found the most provincial people to speak with and represent their respective areas.

Merlot
Jancis goes in the opposite order for Merlot - starting in Napa Valley, then moving to Bordeaux France. However we have the same issue that she focusses on two locations and does not go into the more full details on merlot wine. Of Napa, Jancis comments that 'millions of dollars have been poured into this wonderfully bucolic scene'. She describes merlot as a "cabernet without the pain". Hmmmm, I don't find cabernet painful, or did she mean to the wallet?

Jancis looks at the classic Marilyn Merlot labels and then makes digs about people focussing on labels, not wines. Sure, there is a winery or two that makes bad wine but then spends millions on marketing, but I really don't find that to be a situation that can be said about most Napa wineries. She seemed to enjoy picking on the Napa culture instead of being helpful and educational.

Now we move on to Bordeaux. She explains that St Emilion was built by the English 700 years ago. There are 1,000 wine farms within 4 miles. She is upset that the wineries have changed their standard formulation to turn the wines into oaky wines the critics love.

She uses the classic joke about "you know what they say about making a small fortune in the wine business - the only way is to start with a large one"

In general, I enjoyed seeing the landscapes and scenery in each location, to learn more about the region itself. But given how wonderfully educational Jancis' books are, I had hoped for that same level of information in these DVDs. Instead, they seemed to focus on finding faults with each region, only focussing on 2 particular regions, and leaving the viewer with negative impressions of the winemakers in a given area after each section.

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