Jane Anson to be Decanter's sole Bordeaux en primeur taster

Jane Anson, Decanter's award-winning contributing editor and long-running Bordeaux specialist, will be the publication's sole taster for Bordeaux en primeur wines as of the upcoming 2016 vintage campaign.

Jane Anson will add her duties as official Bordeaux en primeur taster to her existing roles as Bordeaux correspondent and contributing editor.

She will be rating hundreds of wines for Decanter’s coverage of the Bordeaux 2016 en primeur campaign in April.

Anson has lived in Bordeaux since 2003 and developed strong knowledge of the region and its wines, achieving the Diplôme Universitaire d’Aptitude à la Dégustation des Vins (DUAD) from the Bordeaux Faculty of Oenology in 2013.

Jane Anson tasting Bordeaux en primeur wines for Decanter.

Her weekly column on Decanter.com and work for Decanter magazine culminated in the Louis Roederer International Feature Writer of the Year Award in 2016.

Anson has participated in several major tastings for Decanter, including a Bordeaux 1982 retrospective and covering Graves and Pessac-Léognan en primeur wines in the 2015 campaign.

Read Jane Anson’s Bordeaux articles and tasting notes

‘This is a key appointment for us not least because of the huge importance of Bordeaux in the fine wine market,’ said Sarah Kemp, Decanter’s managing director.

‘It also signals an important strategic change in the way in which we will cover and report on Bordeaux going forward.

‘In previous years we have used a number of expert palates to cover both banks. But with Steven Spurrier’s retirement from active tasting duty on the Left Bank, we felt now is the time to switch to one expert across the whole of Bordeaux. Our thanks therefore go to Steven, James Lawther [Right Bank expert] and Ian D’Agata [Sauternes] and others for their brilliant work over a number of years.

‘More than anything we believe that using one taster will provide Decanter readers and the market with even greater focus and consistency. It also demonstrates the huge faith and confidence we have in Jane as Decanter’s primary critic, taster and writer on Bordeaux.’

As a book author, Anson’s titles include Bordeaux Legends, a history of the five Left Bank First Growth wines.

Jane Anson, Decanter’s Bordeaux en primeur critic, columnist and contributing editor.

She has also contributed to a number of books including The Wine Opus and 1000 Great Wines That Won’t Cost A Fortune (both Dorling Kindersley, 2010 and 2011). In addition, Anson was contributing writer of the Michelin Guide to the Wine Regions of France (March 2010, Michelin Publications).

She is currently writing a book on biodynamic wine to be published later this year.

Anson is also an accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux Ecole du Vin.

Anson said, ‘Although the Bordeaux en primeur system has its challenges, it remains an invaluable means of assessing wines that account for a significant slice of the global fine wine market.

‘Finding the estates that have over-performed in tough years or that offer particular value in the celebrated vintages is a fascinating task, and I’m very much looking forward to getting to grips with 2016.’