The Paris Tasting of 24th May, 1976.

The 24th of May, 2011, happens to be the 35th anniversary  of The Judgement of Paris. Let's get a point staight, I am not referring to the story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan wars, and eventually the foundation of Rome. I am referring to the historical, wine tasting event which came to be known as The Paris Tasting of 1976 or the Judgement of Paris, which like the Greek mythology story, created another war and the foundation of an empire. I am talking here about the wine war between the Old and the New World wine producers and the creation of a worldwide open business for good wine.

Cabernet Sauvignon Cluster.

The initial idea somewhat emerged in the Spring of 1975, when a young, British wine merchant, named Steven Spurier, who was running his own wine business in Paris from a wine shop named the Caves de la Madeleine, and a small wine school called the Academie du Vin, as part of his business marketing and exposure to the French wine world, invited the vintners of Bordeaux's elite First Growth red wines, viz: Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Mouton, to a comparative tasting of their 1970 vintage in Paris. All of these producers complied with the exception of Chateau Haut-Brion. No one in France had had the audacity to stage such a face-off of the great wines before, and the event attracted attention and numerous press stories.

After this success, Spurier and his business associate, Patricia Gallagher, began thinking of holding an event centered around a selection of wines from California, as stories were emerging from this new wine region about the exciting new products that were being done there, especially around the Napa Valley estates.

In early 1975, Patricia Gallagher came out with the idea, that the Americans were planning all sorts of special events for 1976, which happened to be the bicentenial of  the American Independence, and suggested that they should put together a blind tasting event with a selection of the best Californian wines against the cream of the French producers, as part of those year long celebrations.

Chardonnay grape cluster.

Up to this time, French wines were always in a league by themselves. In the world of wine, there was France, and then there was everybody else. So this idea appealed to Steven Spurier, and organization to obtain the selected wines from California and to transport them safely to Paris, setting the date of the event, appointing the selected eleven judges from the renowned French Establishment of the wine business, booking the venue, inviting the press, and the multitude of other details which are entailed in such a prestigious event, started in earnest.

The eleven Judges, all French, were selected and invited. The press including reporters from Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Gault-Millaur were invited but all declined the offer considering and deciding that this was going to be a non-event, as they were of the idea that the French wines would win outright. Only one reporter agreed at that time, to cover the event, and that was George M. Taber, who at that time was the Paris reporter for Time Magazine. George M. Taber later reported this even to the world in Time Magazine and wrote a very successful and informative book about this event titled "The Judgement of Paris". Little did the French reporters and press realise, that this event was going to revolutionize the world wide business of wine, and to kill old fashioned myths and traditions of the Old World winemakers, and to bring to the fore the production methods of the best producers from California as the lead country of the New World of wine. This event is still being discussed and debated, even now, 35 years later, hence the reason for this feature.

Six Chardonnays and six Cabernet Sauvignons from California were selected from the best producers, and four of each of these varieties were chosen from then top, French, long established, Burgundy and Bordeaux winemakers, whom the organizers were of the idea that they would win explicitly over the Californian newcomers. The wines selected were as follows:

Californian Chardonnays:                                    Burgundy Chardonnays:
Chateaux Montelena 1973.                                       Batard-Montrachet Ramonet Prudhon 1973.
Chalone Vineyard 1974.                                           Mersault Charmes Roulot 1973.
David Bruce Winery 1973.                                       Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973.
Freemark Abbey Winery 1972.                                Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine
Spring Mountain Vineyard 1973.                              -Leflaive 1972.
Veedercrest Vineyards 1972.

Calfornian Cabernet Sauvignons:                         Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignons:
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973.                                 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1970.
Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971.                           Chateau Montrose 1970.
Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard 1970.               Chateau Haut-Brion 1970.
Clos Du Val Winery 1972.                                         Chateau Leoville Las Cases 71.
Mayacamas Vineyards 1971.
Freemark Abbey Winery 1969.

The Paris Tasting was then scheduled for the 24th of May, 1976, at the InterContinental Hotel, which is located just off the Champs' Elysees, on the Rue de Castiglione, Paris, at 3 pm.

The tasting was to be a blind tasting event. Each judge was provided with numbered score sheets, a pencil,  two stemmed wine glasses and a bread roll. Water was available, and spittoons in the form of champagne buckets were placed near each judge. Prior to the start of the tasting the judges were each poured a glass of Chablis to wet and hone the taste buds, and everything was set for the wine tasting event that was, unknowingly, destined to revolutionaze wine.

The wines were to be ranked by four main criteria:
Eye  - colour and clarity;
Nose - aroma;
Mouth - the wine's taste and structure;
Harmony  - balance, combination of all sensations.
Each criteia was to be judged and scored on the basis of 20 points.

As is traditional in wine tasting, the Chardonnays were scheduled first, followed by the Cabernet Sauvignons.

This tasting was to cause a major upset in the world of wine as known up till then, revolutionize the production, business and marketing of wine, and through which the doors became wide open to the marketing of wines internationally from the emerging New World producing countries. The results not only shook the French Judges when they were read out by Steven Spurier, but also succeeded to stun the wine world, especially France.

The results of that first Paris Tasting - which became known as The Judgement of Paris of 1976, were as follows:

Chardonnays:                                                     Cabernet Sauvignons:

1. Chateau Montelena 1973.                                1. Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973.
2. Mersault Charmes 1973.                                  2. Chateau Mouton Rotschild '70.
3. Chalone Vineyard 1974.                                  3. Chateau Montrose 1970.
4. Spring Mountain 1973.                                    4. Chateau Haut-Brion 1970.
5. Beaune Clos des Marches '73.                         5. Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971.
6. Freemark Abbey 1972.                                    6. Chateau Leoville-La Cases 1971.
7. Batard Montrachet 1973.                                 7. Heitz Martha's Vineyards 1970.
8. Puligny-Montrachet 1972.                                8. Close Du Val Winery 1972.
9. Veedercrest Vineyards 1972.                           9. Mayacamas Vineyards 1971.
10. David Bruce Winery 1973.                            10. Freemark Abbey 1969.

As was expected, the French wine establishment was at the time up-in-arms against these results, and following the short report which was published in Time Magazine of the time, by which all the world realised what took place in Paris on that faithful day, many other articles and features were written and published even by a number of the adjudicating judges themselves. After the results were read, a prominent French judge, Odette Khan,  had even had the audacity to ask Steven Spurier to give her back her score sheets, which of course he did not do.

Various replica tastings were carried out periodically on these same wines by various institutions. To name a few these were held in 1978 two years after the first tasting in San Francisco; in 1999 in Paris; on the tenth anniversary of the 1976 event, viz on the 24th of May, 1986, at which tasting the Cabernet Sauvignons were again blind tasted by the French Culinary Institute. But the cherry on the cake was once again placed on the authenticity of the original tasting of 1976, on the 30th Anniversary of the Judgement of Paris, on the 24th of May, 2006, when two different blind tastings, in two different countries, and by different judges with different nationalities were conducted simultaneously on the Cabernet Sauvignons at The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts (COPIA) in Napa, California and at Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain's oldest wine merchants, in London, in association with Steven Spurier.  In all these replica tastings of these wines, the California wines always came out on top. The Chardonnays were only re-tasted for the first few years as unlike the Cabernet Sauvignons which were still in excellent condition after 30 years, the white Chardonnays were considered to have gone past their prime, as white wine is prone to do.

The 18 judges combined results, on the 30th Anniversary tastings in California and London, scored the Cabernet Sauvignon wines as follows:

1. Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971.
2. Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973.
3. Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 (tie).
4. Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyards 1970 (tie).
5. Clos du Val Winery 1972.
These were then followed by the four French wines and one other wine from California in 10th place.

The Paris Tasting of 1976, shattered two foundations of conventional wisdom in the world of wine. First, it demonstrated that outstanding wine can be made in many places beyond the hallowed terroir of France.
Second, the Paris Tasting showed that winemakers did not need long heritage and traditions of passing knowledge from one generation to the next to master the techniques for producing great wine. Newcomers could cut the time dramatically if they did good research and followed the French and Californian procedures and techniques.

Established Old World countries such as Italy and Spain, and more so the newcomers from the New World countries such as South Africa, Australia, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and even Canada, took a hard look at these events and acted accordingly, resulting in the globalization of wine from its European roots.

After the Paris Tasting, winemakers in many countries began concentrating on France's leading grape varietals, just as the Californians did in the 1960's and early 1970's. Eight types of grapes now dominate global wine production. Among the reds we find: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah/Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc. Among the whites we find: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.

One other thing that has clearly emerged from the Paris Tasting of 1976 and the subsequent replica tastings, was not only the fact that the results have had a revolutionary impact on expanding the production and prestige, of premium and high quality wine from the New World, but also gave the French a valuable incentive to review traditions and to modernize. Many were those producers from the Old World who eventually sent their sons and daughters to the University of California, Davis as well as to Fresno State College to follow and graduate in their prestigious wine programs. Various international wine schools also sprouted in all parts of the world, offering study programs from the basic wine appreciation courses, up to diploma and degree courses of study, in viticulture, enology/ oenology, and for persons who wanted to specialize as wine professionals. This also opened the door to a new type of writer in the wine field, the wine critic and the wine reviewer.

To a large extent, this event and its results, affected and applied also to the other traditionalists in the Old World of wine, such as Italy and Spain, both of which have their own prestigious, indegenious grape varietals, wine brands and traditions in wine making.

Since 1976, many books have been published on the Paris Tasting of 1976, and many articles have been published in the international press, from which the research for this feature have been made. Special thanks go to each and every author. Many books have also been written and published about wine by many prestigious and world renowned experts in the field, these books are the manna from heaven to perpetual students of wine such as myself.

Will there be another anniversary tasting on the 35th anniversary of the Paris Tasting, on the 24th of May, 2011? Are any of the original wines still available somewhere? If a tasting is held, it would really be a great eye opener if a selection of prestigious wines from the other major New World producers are also included. How about it?