Wine Wisdoms #5: The Pivotal Judgment of Paris 1976
by Erika S., Wine Enthusiast Companies
The Judgment of Paris was a pivotal moment in the history of California wines. In May 1976, a British wine merchant arranged a blind tasting of French and California wines (Cabernet vs. Classified Bordeaux and Chardonnay vs. top White Burgundies) to be judged by France’s foremost wine industry experts. The results launched California wines onto the world stage as Stag’s Leap Cask 23 was chosen the top red over, Mouton-Rothschild, Haut Brion, Montrose and others and Chateau Montelena Chardonnay was the number one white ahead of Batard-Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles, Beaune Clos des Mouches and others. The Judgment of Paris was also the focus of the feature film “Bottle Shock,” which released this Fall.
Read more about California wines at Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s West Coast editor Steve Heimoff’s blog, UnReserved
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Filed under: Wine Tasting, Wine Wisdoms
2 Comments
2 Responses to “Wine Wisdoms #5: The Pivotal Judgment of Paris 1976”
Please Wait
November 18th, 2008 at 7:03:35 PM
.The deal between Chateau
Montelena and Cos d’Estournel fell through. This was reported in both the wine press and such publications as The Wall Street Journal, N.Y. Times, among others.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:06:33 AM
@Hubbard, my apologies for the error. I read about it in the NY Times “The Pour” blog and missed the follow-up posts. Steve Heimoff actually covered it on our own site too http://tinyurl.com/6ftdy3
Thanks for pointing this out.