Curious what folks think of Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages. Any thoughts from current or past subscribers? I’m signing up for a year (basically out of curiosity), but haven’t really discerned a consensus point of view here. Brief thoughts appreciated.
That answers that.
I found the on-line Oxford Companion to Wine useful when I was studying for WSET exams some years ago; am no longer a subscriber.
Jancis has a lot to offer but I don’t think Purple Pages is worth the price. Maybe if it were a free site I’d look at it. I’m not interested in ratings and I’m even less interested in her ratings. I would be interested in a broad look at different issues and areas, but she’s never a leader in those things. She attends a trade event and then writes about it, gets reports from a region and then writes about the vintage, offers safe opinions and rarely strays into controversy, and all in all, offers nothing particularly compelling on her site.
That’s not to disparage her, and things like the Oxford Companion are very useful, but her strength isn’t her Web site IMO.
On this site, there’s a lot of crap and a lot of ignorance, but there are also wine makers, scientists, people ITB and people whose passion for wine resulted in their acquiring a vast knowledge of various regions, at least as deep as any that she has. There are people who live in Bordeaux, Piedmont, Sonoma, Napa, etc., who care about and know those areas more intimately than she does, even more people who visit the various regions regularly, and there are people who bring as much insight as Jancis and the people who write for her.
Again, that’s not to disparage either her or her writers, and I kind of like her, but the traffic and participation on this site makes it far more useful and interesting, at least to me, than her site. There are other British sites if you want a non US-centric take on things, and there are sites in France, Germany, Hungary, Spain Italy, etc. if you speak those languages.
Just my 2 cts and I’m sure others will disagree.
I’m a big fan and long term subscriber-
Pros
Oxford Companion is a brilliant resource easy to use and a great way to get technical answers on tricky questions
I think the quality of writing is second to none in terms of the quality of prose
Its pretty eclectic so you get a broad view of the world of wine- (pros and cons here of course)
I like the different voices on the site with the new specialists
Its pretty Euro-centric which for me is a good thing- I read Ebob and WB for a more US centric view of the world.
I live in China and JR has over the years has been following wine production here like no other wine writer- there are other hobby horses which may or may not be interesting for the average reader- anti Heavy bottles, Anti big alcohol, pretty much anti En-Primeur Bordeaux Circus, Pro new wine regions and funky grapes etc, fairly neutral and balanced on Natural wine etc.
Cons-
It can be a bit UK-centric which is frustrating at times
If you want scores etc this is probably not the site for you-
The forum used to be quite dynamic- David Schildnicht used to be there frequently as well as other interesting opinion leaders and specialists. Today however the Forum is pretty dull and dominated by a few loud and often myopic people- there is only one wine forum worth reading now and we are on it 
Its not for everyone but for me it represents good value for money,
Cheers
Marcus
I’m a bit surprised that the wine e-magazines don’t seem to offer the same price discount over paper format that you typically find in e-books in comparison to actual books. It has to be much less expensive to publish a digital version.
I think Purple Pages is worth the subscription. As Marcus says, it has a large variety of articles about all aspects and regions of wine. She has some very good contributing writers, such as Ferran Centelles, the ex El Bulli sommellier, Alex Hunt’s fascinating in-depth articles on the art and science of tasting, Walter Speller on Italy and Alder Yarrow on the US.
The tasting notes are brief but they cover a huge range of wines and are generally quite critical and consistent.
The forum is very different to this one. It’s perhaps less lively but members appear more respectful of one another. There is one person dominating at the moment who annoys people but we shouldn’t judge it by that.
So I think the site is of more value for the diverse and well-written articles, the tasting notes database and access to the Oxford Companion, than for its forum. For the price, it’s better than many magazine (online or hard-copy) subscriptions.
Thanks for the feedback all. Giving it a try for the year.