FAQs

This is a short list of our most frequently asked questions. For further information, please contact us.

  • How do I search tasting notes?

    To search tasting notes, click on Tasting notes in the main menu bar and use the search box on the left. You can enter keywords, and then use the dropdown menus to narrow your search criteria – for example, country, region and vintage. These menus are faceted – that is, they will automatically adjust to your other search criteria.

    For a comprehensive explanation of our tasting notes search, please see this article.

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  • What is responsive design?

    Responsive design automatically adapts the appearance of websites to your screen size. That means that you will see a slightly different design when viewing on desktops, tablets and mobiles. However, you may also see the tablet or mobile design on your desktop, according to the size and zoom level of your browser window.

    If you are seeing the tablet view on your desktop, try changing your screen resolution or browser zoom level, and the webpage will automatically respond.

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  • Is my browser compatible with JancisRobinson.com?

    The latest designs of JancisRobinson.com utilise the latest technologies and require modern browsers in order to work properly. This site will not work properly on browser versions older than Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari 5, Firefox 5 and Internet Explorer 11. If you are using an older browser than this, please visit outdatedbrowser.com to learn more about how to upgrade for free.

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  • How do I access JancisRobinson.com on my mobile device?

    Since August 2014, JancisRobinson.com has been fully responsive – that is, the site automatically adjusts itself to be navigable and legible according to the screen size of the device used. This means that you should have the full functionality of the site whether accessing it via desktop, tablet or mobile devices. So in either case, point your browser to JancisRobinson.com!

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  • How do I cancel my membership of Purple Pages?

    If you don't like what you find on Purple Pages, you may cancel and receive a full refund provided you do so within the first 14 days of becoming a member; just email support@jancisrobinson.com to say you wish to cancel.

    If you decide to cancel after those first 14 days of your initial membership have elapsed, you can use the Cancel button on the Membership page of the My account section. Please email support@jancisrobinson.com if you have any questions.

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  • I'm a member but I can't access Purple Pages

    This may be because you are entering your email address and/or password incorrectly. Do remember the password is CasE-SensiTiVe and has to be entered exactly as you entered it on your subscription form. See above if you have forgotten your password.

    Alternatively, check that you are entering the email address that we have on our records. Perhaps try a previous email address and, if successful, you can always change the email address on our records via My account.

    Or it may be because your subscription has expired. You can check the expiration date via the Payment methods tab within My account, which will also allow you to rejoin.

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  • Why do I have to keep logging in?

    Your log-in details are stored in cookies on your computer. When you revisit our site, our server should recognise the cookie and log you in automatically.

    If you find that you have to log in every time you visit our site, it is probably because your browser is either blocking cookies, deleting/clearing cookies when you close your browser, or is set to delete/expire cookies after a specified period of time. To check whether you have cookies enabled and/or to change your cookie-related settings, please click on the following, according to the browser you are using:

    Microsoft Edge Settings, Cookies and site permissions, Manage and delete cookies and site data

    Firefox Options, Privacy and security

    Safari Preferences, Privacy 

    Chrome Settings, Privacy and security, Cookies and other site data

    Brave Settings, Additional settings, Privacy and security, Cookies and other site data

      Even if you choose to block all other cookies, you can customise your settings so that cookies from JancisRobinson.com are still allowed. For more detailed instructions on how to change or customise your cookie settings, please click on the relevant browser link provided above.

      If you choose not to receive cookies, you may of course still use the site but you will have to log in each time you visit, and may find that the site does not function properly or is slower than when you allow a cookie to be installed on your machine. These considerations apply to all websites, not just this one.

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    • I've forgotten my password ...

      Please remember that passwords are CasE-SensiTiVe, so they have to be entered exactly as you entered them when you signed up. 

      If you still can’t access Purple Pages, click on the Login button at the top right of any page, then click on the Reset your password link. Follow the instructions that are emailed to you. Change your password by clicking on the password tab in the My account section.

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    • How do I join?

      Click on the yellow Join button at the top right of any page, and follow the prompts. After making payment, you will have unlimited access to everything ever published on the liveliest and most substantial bits of the site since its inception in 2000. You can choose whether to pay on an annual or on a monthly basis.

      Your membership will be renewed automatically, unless you decide to cancel (see below), via our payment provider. All payments are handled by Stripe.com.

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    • What are Purple Pagers?

      Purple Pagers are members of JancisRobinson.com, who get access to all the paid-for content that constitutes the meatiest part of the site. This includes a lively forum, insider tips, hot gossip, hundreds of thousands of tasting notes and an online version of the multi-award-winning giant reference work The Oxford Companion to Wine and the wonderfully detailed, fully searchable maps of the world-famous World Atlas of Wine.

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    • How do I find articles on a specific subject?

      To search for articles, click on Articles in the top menu, and use the search form. You can type any keywords into the box across the top of the page, and/or filter the results by selecting the author, article category, publication date and/or tags on the left-hand side. In mobile view, click the Show filters button to reveal these options.

      To search tasting notes, use the dedicated search form by clicking on Tasting notes in the top menu.

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    • What's new?

      Our five most recently published articles are automatically displayed on the home page. To see more, go to the Articles page (click on Articles in the top menu bar), where you can also search within our archive of over 12,000 articles, dating back to 2002. 

      We generally publish several articles every day except Sunday. You can be automatically alerted to these via email by using this IFTTT applet. We provide links to the most recently published articles in our weekly emails sent out every Friday, but the best way to keep up with our prodigious output is to keep visiting JancisRobinson.com!

      If you prefer to get RSS updates from, say, Thunderbird rather than IFTTT, the URL to the RSS feed is: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/rss. 

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    • How do I administer my group professional membership?

      A guide is available here, explaining how you can add and remove members from your group and manage their access to Purple Pages. If you need to purchase additional seats, please contact support@jancisrobinson.com If you accidentally remove the administrator role from your own account, or if the Administrator leaves your organisation leaving no current Administrator with access to the group membership, please contact support@jancisrobinson.com for the Admin role to be reassigned.

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    • Why are there sometimes multiple tasting notes for the same wine?

      Sometimes the same wine will get tasted several times over the course of its life, and we think it is interesting to see how a wine might show differently at these stages. A wine may also be tasted by more than one taster at the same stage in its life.

      Wines change over time, and two bottles of the same wine may vary considerably, either because of the storage conditions or the closure.

      Young wines, particularly wines such as red bordeaux, can taste very different from what they will be like once they have fully evolved and matured, and the wines that need cellaring can often be very difficult and closed/tannic/tight when young. In the case of any wines tasted en primeur, ie before they are bottled and even before the final blend has been made, the wine can sometimes taste very different from a wine that has been in bottle a few years. (NB: We always make it clear if we are tasting an unfinished wine (eg by noting ‘cask sample’), with the caveat that it is only a provisional score and note.)

      In addition, any bottle can be affected by how it has been stored, which affects how quickly the wine has developed in the bottle.

      The temperature at which the wine is served, the temperature of the room in which it is being served, the food with which it is being served, and how long the bottle has been open can also make a difference.

      Tasters can also be affected by environmental and physical factors – even the wines tasted before and after can affect our perception of a wine. Such factors affect the wine drinker as well as the critic, so it would be a little misleading to iron out any differences between tasting notes and assert that one tasting note is the absolute summary of the wine.

      We could, for the sake of simplicity, delete any duplicate tasting notes that do not concur with each other, but Jancis's policy has always been transparency and honesty, and the reality of wine, which is effectively a living liquid that is constantly evolving and changing, is that it doesn't taste exactly the same every time it's poured and to everyone who tastes it. Furthermore, some fine wines such as bordeaux, burgundy, Barolo and white Rhône wines often go through ‘closed’ phases during their evolution – usually in the first three years.

      All of this serves to underline that wine tasting is not an exact science, and a wine cannot be measured with precision. This is one reason we really don't like scoring, and we encourage the reader to read the tasting notes, and to find the taster whose palate aligns most closely with their own.

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