The Judgment of Paris

The Judgment of Paris was the historic wine tasting held in Paris, France on May 24th of 1976 in which California Cabernets and Chardonnays were pitted against Red Bordeaux and White Burgundies...and won!  Specifically the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet was deemed the best red over five other Californians and four classified growth Bordeaux and the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay was the best white over four Californians and four premier and grand cru Burgundies.  The tasting was blind and conducted by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant in Paris, and the judges were all French except one American who lived in France and seemed to fit the same profile as the others.

The significance of the event was huge.  Having entered this industry in the same year, I recognized this as a game-changer because the center of the wine universe at the time was Europe and France in particular.  Moreover, the contrast between the centuries old wine estates of France and the upstart Californians was absurd.  All of the Californians were no more than fifteen years old and Clos Du Val's entry, its 1972 Cabernet, was its first release! 

In 1978 in San Francisco the tasting was repeated with American judges and the winners were Stag's Leap Cabernet again and 1974 Chalone Chardonnay.  On the tenth anniversary of the Paris tasting when the whites were too old for tasting, the reds were repeated in Paris with Clos Du Val taking top honors and that same year Wine Spectator magazine repeated the tasting in America with the 1970 Heitz Martha's Vineyard Cabernet coming out on top.  Then on the thirtieth anniversary of the original tasting in 2006, Steven Spurrier returned to do the honors in France and the 1971 Ridge Montibello Cabernet was deemed best.  In every contest the Californians were judged superior to the French with the thirty year tasting being especially significant because California wines were not supposed to hold up that long.

This, of course, has been a cultural coup and industry marketing bonanza.  I mentioned earlier how euro-centric the wine business was at that time and I cannot stress that reality enough.  With this revolution-in-a-winetasting coinciding with a generational evolution from liquor to wine, the California industry moved from the predominantly jug wine era of the 1940's, 50's, and 60's to the varietals of the 80's and it continues to evolve now with new mastery of matching grape types with terroir.

Next time we will talk about the controversies surrounding these events.

Curtis Gauthier of Empire Distributors will be here this Friday from 5 to 7pm with a tasting of Waterbrook wines from Washington State.  The wines are in the popular $12 to $25 range and over-perform with quality throughout.  Please join us.