Ethics Page

It has now been a year since I launched this website, and almost 20 years since moving to Bordeaux and focusing increasingly on the wines of this region.

I thought it would be useful to set out my thoughts on some of the questions that come up most frequently in terms of journalist ethics, that were important when I was part of the team at Decanter, but are even more important now that I have left that role and am running this site.

Remaining impartial while living in the region
I believe that for a region such as Bordeaux, that makes so much wine and has so much money tied up in it, there is a true value to my subscribers for me being present throughout the year, giving me not only knowledge but also context as to what producers are saying about their wines or vintage conditions. It also allows me to be based at home, without having to accept hospitality in châteaux or from local winemaking groups for overnight stays. I do accept meals at estates sometimes, usually because it feels rude to do otherwise, but pretty much every château here knows (and probably bemoans) that I prefer to have a quick sandwich in the middle of a day of tasting rather than a long break.

And if we can expand the meaning of ethics to the bigger questions today about sustainability and environmental impact, then living in the region that you primarily cover is an important way to cut down on your carbon footprint. As I am a signed-up member of 1% for the Planet, this is a serious consideration for me.

Most importantly, I was a journalist long before becoming a wine critic, and the idea of independence is deeply ingrained. This is partly why I chose to have no outside investors when launching my site. I do have partnerships, from Wine Services to Liv-ex to The Wine Conversation (you can see all their logos at the bottom of the home page), but I am not receiving money to endorse these companies, and choose companies that I believe add benefits to my subscribers.

Wine samples
The reality of the job is that wine critics often attend group tastings put on by various wineries, the most obvious being En Primeur, where the costs of the samples are borne by the producers, raising queries over the ethics of reviewing wines that have not ben paid for. My honest answer to that is that I taste thousands of wines per year and would not be able to pay for every one – and nor do I feel that it is essential for me to do so to give an honest appraisal of them.

I am not, however, being paid to taste them (except for by my wonderful subscribers), and I do not get put up in chateaux while doing so.I do accept samples that are sent to me to taste here, and welcome châteaux getting in touch if they feel I am overlooking something interesting, but unless I have solicited them specifically, I can not guarantee that they will be written up. In the end, the decision on what to publish will be made according to wines that I feel are of interest to my readers. I also frequently have tussles with châteaux asking them not to give me wines to take away, or send to my house unless specifically for tastings. I was interested to read Jancis Robinson on this within her own Ethics page (which has inspired mine, thank you Jancis), and she seemed to think this practice is more common in France than in the rest of the world, and that may be true. I have of course heard the stories of journalists who leave their car boot open in the expectation that it will be filled with cases of fine claret, but I am happy to report that has not been my experience.

And to be very clear, I never accept payment for visiting wineries or tasting wines under any circumstances (and the number of times that I am asked how much I charge for both of these things, by both estates and PR companies, tells me that this is not the case for all critics).

Editorial Calendar
For those who do want to send samples, my editorial calendar is not set in stone, outside of the key moments of En Primeur (April), 10 Years On (January), In Bottle (November or December), and the two Beyond Bordeaux tastings of March and September.

Finally, this page will and should evolve. Inevitably I make mistakes, no doubt at all. I receive samples of wine that I don’t always have time to taste and write up, and feel guilty about that, and there is no doubt that I can do better in many areas. I also appreciate that for other wine writers, coming into a region for a few weeks at a time, especially when done regularly, gives a different and important perspective. In the end there is room for everyone – and of course I do the same thing, with visits to (most frequently) California and Italy. But I try to do my best. I recently took part in a panel discussion centred around journalist ethics, and moderator Ray Isle’s final words are worth repeating. ‘Ultimately, you know when you are crossing a line. Be honest with yourself first, as a journalist, as a writer, as a human’.