Jancis Robinson MW sells website to U.S. media company
Celebrated wine writer Jancis Robinson MW has sold her eponymous website to U.S. digital media company Recurrent Ventures for an undisclosed sum.
Robinson, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential wine writers, said she was “conscious of my age and the need to assure an even brighter future for the site”.
However, she insisted: “I have no intention whatsoever of retiring. I shall continue to work my socks off doing the things I really enjoy: tasting and writing about wine, and travelling to the extent that is possible in this pandemic-restricted era. I just won’t have to worry about the less-interesting – to me – aspects of running the company.”
She also promised that the values of integrity, authenticity, independence and trustworthiness will be zealously guarded, and suggested that the JancisRobinson.com team could be expanded.
“Recurrent is a young, dynamic, fast-growing company determined to become one of the major online publishers,” said Robinson in a statement to readers. “Their stated aim is to ‘empower brands to grow, and to connect consumers with media in a way that is enjoyable, sustainable, inspiring and profitable – while maintaining editorial integrity’.
“It was founded only in 2018 with the acquisition of The Drive, but its 15 brands to date already include Saveur (remember when it was a classy print food magazine?), Popular Science, Domino, MEL, Outdoor Life, The Drive, Field & Stream, Bob Vila and Task & Purpose.
“Together they currently have a combined audience of more than 45 million monthly unique visitors. Unlike us, Recurrent is extremely focused on tech. Together we are keen to make your experience of JancisRobinson.com as smooth and rewarding as possible. We look forward to continuing to improve the site.”