Other
Jasper Morris
Sommelier
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
The Master of Wine credential is a trade marker for disciplined tasting, commercial fluency, and written authority; Jasper Morris earned it in 1985 and has applied it chiefly to the Côte d’Or and its surrounding appellations. His current work as author and consultant at Inside Burgundy, based in Beaune, keeps the focus on the area’s vineyards, wines, and growers, with the register of someone writing for people who buy, sell, cellar, and assess wine professionally.
The Path
Wine trade formation often starts before specialization: education, merchant work, buying, and sustained contact with growers and markets. Jasper Morris was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church College, Oxford, then worked at Birley & Goedhuis from 1979 to 1981, where the practical side of the trade came first. Independent merchant work requires selection, sourcing, customer trust, and a point of view that can survive repeated vintages. In 1981, Morris founded Morris & Verdin and led it until 2003, building a business with the eastern French wine region as a central reference point. Buying direction at an established merchant shifts the work from personal selection to institutional judgment. Morris served as Buying Director at Berry Bros. & Rudd until 2017, a role that placed deep regional knowledge inside a broader wine-market framework. In 2016, he became Senior Consultant at Christie’s, and in 2021 he also became Senior Consultant at Sotheby’s. Writing on this part of France asks for precision: place names, producers, vintages, and the ability to explain hierarchy without reducing the wine to hierarchy alone. Since 2018, Morris has worked through Inside Burgundy as author and consultant, using that platform to document the region for readers who need usable context rather than ornament.
Now
The platform is built around the practical reading of the region: vineyards, wine, and people held together as one subject. In his current role there, Morris continues to write and consult on its wines for an audience that includes collectors, buyers, and wine professionals looking for informed assessment.
Signature
Wine focus: Inside Burgundy: The Vineyards.
Recognition
Recognition in wine writing and agricultural service places this work in both the literary and viticultural records. Morris received the André Simon Book Award in 2022 and 2010, was honored as a Chevalier de l’Ordre de Mérite Agricole in 2005, and earned the Master of Wine title in 1985.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Jasper
What role does Jasper Morris hold?
Jasper Morris is wine critic / burgundy expert at Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy.
Where did Jasper Morris train or study?
Jasper Morris trained at Charterhouse and Christ Church College, Oxford.
What recognition has Jasper Morris received?
André Simon Book Award (2022).
