Both California Chardonnays and Cabernets took top three spots. In 1978, two years after California turned the wine world on its head, Spurrier flew to San Francisco to participate in a Vintner’s Club event featuring the same wines. There were several blind re-tastings conducted since. In the Cabernet tasting, 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, made from grapes harvested from three-year old vines placed first, ahead of Haut-Brion, Leoville Las Cases, Mouton-Rothschild and Montrose, 1971 Ridge Monte Bello placed fifth. 1974 Chalone placed third, causing further furor. In the original 1976 Chardonnay face-off, 1973 Chateau Montelena won first place, beating famous Burgundian producers such as Drouhin, Leflaive, and Roulot. To compensate for the shocking results, theories abound, as to the flaws of the scoring system, the judges state of mind, the subjectivity of such tastings, the star alignment, etc. California wines were the underdogs, dark horses set up for a landslide defeat or so everyone thought…Īs we all now know, that’s not at all how things worked out, much to the dismay of the French. The idea was clearly to demonstrate French wine authority to the world. California Cabernet Sauvignons and another comprised of California and French Chardonnays. He sincerely believed that California wines could never win in a contest against the French.įrench judges conducted two blind tastings: one of French Bordeaux vs. In fact, Spurrier only carried French wines in his store. The original competition took place in Paris on May 24th, 1976, arranged by Steven Spurrier, a bored British wine shop owner in Paris and a staunch advocate of French supremacy. 2016 will mark 40th anniversary of the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, known as the Judgment of Paris, a historic affair that made the old wine world sit up and take notice of the new world, specifically Napa Valley.Ī less formal title might be “California grapes of wrath” or even “California bottle of whoop-a$$” since, in a nutshell, American wines beat the French.
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