This year marks the 40th anniversary of a pivotal moment in the wine world. In 1976 nine well known French wine tasters and experts, along with one American and one British wine taster, gathered in Paris to conduct a blind tasting of wines. The tasting featured some of the top Bordeaux reds and Burgundy whites against California Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
The tasting became known as the Judgement of Paris and was as controversial as its namesake from Greek mythology (leading to the start of the Trojan War). At that time French wines sat at the pinnacle of supposed wine excellence. When California wines took top honours in both the red and white categories, it was a shock to the wine world and French traditions.
It took a little while for the shock to register, however. Although Time magazine immediately featured the results, French papers initially ignored the story. When it eventually did appear in European papers the results were mocked. Various criticisms were levelled at the tasting and the results, some with merit.
If you have any experience with tasting wines, you will know that people’s preferences are quite varied, and perceptions change according to mood and context. Only the scores of the nine French judges were used in computing the average score for each wine. The winning red wine from Stag’s Leap Cellars had only one first place ranking from the French judges, but won out on average – but was averaging a fair methodology?
Some argued the French wines might not be at their best, but we are talking famous labels and excellent vintages such as the Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970 and Château Haut Brion 1970. The tastings were also repeated several times using the same wines, in 1978, 1986, and 2006. Each time the California wines came out on top – which is probably even more remarkable than the initial result.
Controversies notwithstanding, the results do mark a departure from the days in which French and European wines were kings, and production in places like California and Australia were for local consumption only. Since that time we have seen the New World wine producers stake out their territory in international markets. The event also contributed to the career of the British taster, Steven Spurrier, the organizer of the original event, who continued his rise to be one of the world’s famous wine writers and critics.
The original event is portrayed in the 2008 film “Bottle Shock” but Spurrier, among others, suggest the movie bears little resemblance to the actual story. Apparently another movie will soon be released.
In this anniversary year perhaps you will want to do your own version of the Judgement and compare some French and Californian wines to see which you prefer. Here’s one I recently tasted from California’s Lodi region.
Noble Vines “337” 2012 (NLC $20.27) is named for the number identifier of the Cabernet Sauvignon clone grown in the vineyard – apparently the preferred clone used in Bordeaux vineyards. The wine was a deep dark red with ample ripe black currant fruit aromas. The tannins were supple and supportive, and the wine had a lengthy finish. Score 15/Very Good.