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The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant and his colleague,
Patricia Gallagher Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher was a director at the Académie du Vin, a impetus, with Steven Spurrier, behind the 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting event and participated as one of its eleven judges. She was also on the Copia panel that oversaw ...
, in which French judges carried out two
blind tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...
comparisons: one of top-quality
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...
s and another of red wines ( Bordeaux wines from France and
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...
wines from Napa, California). A Napa wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win. The event's informal name "Judgment of Paris" is an allusion to the
ancient Greek myth A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...
.


The wines

Red wines White wines


The judges

The eleven judges were (in alphabetical order):


Method

Blind tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...
was performed and the judges were asked to grade each wine out of 20 points. No specific grading framework was given, leaving the judges free to grade according to their own criteria. Rankings of the wines preferred by individual judges were based on the grades they individually attributed. An overall ranking of the wines preferred by the jury was also established in averaging the sum of each judge's individual grades (
arithmetic mean In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...
). However, grades of
Patricia Gallagher Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher was a director at the Académie du Vin, a impetus, with Steven Spurrier, behind the 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting event and participated as one of its eleven judges. She was also on the Copia panel that oversaw ...
and Steven Spurrier were not taken into account, thus counting only grades of French judges.


The results


White wines

California Chardonnays vs. Burgundy Chardonnays Official jury results:


Red wines

California Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Bordeaux Official jury results: Average Original grades: out of 20 points.


Breakdown by judge

The original grades (out of 20 points) are shown, in alphabetical order by judge. Pierre Brejoux Original grades: out of 20 points. Claude Dubois-Millot Original grades: out of 20 points. Michel Dovaz Original grades: out of 20 points. Patricia Gallagher Original grades: out of 20 points. Odette Kahn Original grades: out of 20 points. Raymond Oliver Original grades: out of 20 points. Steven Spurrier Original grades: out of 20 points. Pierre Tari Original grades: out of 20 points. Christian Vanneque Original grades: out of 20 points. Aubert de Villaine Original grades: out of 20 points. Jean-Claude Vrinat Original grades: out of 20 points.


Controversies


Statistical interpretation

Orley Ashenfelter Orley Clark Ashenfelter (born October 18, 1942) is an American economist and the Joseph Douglas Green 1895 Professor of Economics at Princeton University. His areas of specialization include labor economics, econometrics, and law and economics. H ...
and
Richard E. Quandt Richard Emeric Quandt (born 1 June 1930, in Budapest) is a Guggenheim Fellowship-winning economist who analyzed the results of the Judgment of Paris (wine), Judgment of Paris wine tasting event with Orley Ashenfelter.Orley Ashenfelter and Richard E ...
analyzed the results of all 11 judges instead of only nine and proposed a slightly different ranking (see below). They also stated that only the scores of the first two wines in their ranking were statistically valid, and that the seven other wines could not be differentiated statistically. # Stag's Leap Wine Cellars '73 # Montrose '70 # Mouton '70 # Haut Brion '70 # Ridge Monte Bello '71 # Heitz Martha's '70 # Leoville-las-cases '71 # Freemark Abbey '69 # Mayacamas '71 # Clos du Val '72


Tasting replications

Some critics argued that French red wines would age better than the California reds, so this was tested.


San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978

The San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 was conducted 20 months after the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. Steven Spurrier flew in from Paris to participate in the evaluations, which were held at the Vintners Club. On 11 January 1978, evaluators blind-tasted the same Chardonnays tasted earlier in Paris. # – 1974 Chalone Winery # – 1973 Chateau Montelena # – 1973 Spring Mountain Vineyard # – 1972 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive. Ranking lower were Meursault Charmes Roulot 1973, Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973, and Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon 1973. On 12 January 1978, evaluators blind-tasted the same Cabernet Sauvignons tasted earlier in Paris. # – 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars # – 1970 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's vineyard # – 1971 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello # – 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild. Ranking lower were Château Montrose 1970, Château Haut-Brion 1970, and Château Leoville Las Cases 1971.


French Culinary Institute Tasting of 1986

Two tastings were conducted by the French Culinary Institute (now called the
International Culinary Center The International Culinary Center was a private for-profit culinary school headquartered in New York City. In 2020, it merged into the Institute of Culinary Education, also in New York City. It was founded as The French Culinary Institute by D ...
) on the tenth anniversary of the original Paris Wine Tasting. White wines were not evaluated in the belief that they were past their prime. Steven Spurrier, who organized the original 1976 wine competition, assisted in the anniversary tasting. Eight judges
blind taste Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...
d nine of the ten wines evaluated. The evaluation resulted in the following ranking: ;Results Rank Wine # –
Clos Du Val Winery Clos du Val Winery is a winery in the Stags Leap District of California's Napa Valley. Wine varieties grown include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Merlot. History The winery was founded by two men who were born into the French ...
1972 # –
Ridge Vineyards Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of on Mo ...
Monte Bello # –
Château Montrose Château Montrose is a winery in the Saint-Estèphe appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Deuxièmes Crus'' (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classificatio ...
# –
Château Leoville Las Cases A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
1971 # – Château Mouton Rothschild 1970 # –
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, four years after its establishment ...
1973 # –
Heitz Wine Cellars Heitz Wine Cellars is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success o ...
1970 # –
Mayacamas Vineyards Mayacamas Vineyards is a California wine producer located in the Mt. Veeder AVA in the Mayacamas Mountains within the Napa Valley AVA, bordering the Sonoma Valley AVA. The estate is known for producing wine of a more traditional style than the Na ...
1971 # – Château Haut-Brion


Wine Spectator Tasting of 1986

Four of the judges were experts from ''Wine Spectator'' and two were outsiders. All tasted the wines blind. ;Results Rank Wine # –
Heitz Wine Cellars Heitz Wine Cellars is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success o ...
1970 # –
Mayacamas Vineyards Mayacamas Vineyards is a California wine producer located in the Mt. Veeder AVA in the Mayacamas Mountains within the Napa Valley AVA, bordering the Sonoma Valley AVA. The estate is known for producing wine of a more traditional style than the Na ...
1971 # –
Ridge Vineyards Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of on Mo ...
Monte Bello # –
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, four years after its establishment ...
1973 # –
Clos Du Val Winery Clos du Val Winery is a winery in the Stags Leap District of California's Napa Valley. Wine varieties grown include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Merlot. History The winery was founded by two men who were born into the French ...
1972 # –
Château Montrose Château Montrose is a winery in the Saint-Estèphe appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Deuxièmes Crus'' (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classificatio ...
1970 # – Château Mouton Rothschild 1970 # –
Château Leoville Las Cases A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
1971 # – Freemark Abbey Winery 1969 # – Château Haut-Brion 1970


30th anniversary

A 30th anniversary re-tasting on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was organized by Steven Spurrier in 2006. As ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' reported "Despite the French tasters, many of whom had taken part in the original tasting, 'expecting the downfall' of the American vineyards, they had to admit that the harmony of the Californian cabernets had beaten them again. Judges on both continents gave top honors to a 1971 Ridge Monte Bello cabernet. Four Californian reds occupied the next placings before the highest-ranked Bordeaux, a 1970
Château Mouton-Rothschild A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
, came in at sixth." ''The Tasting that Changed the Wine World: 'The Judgment of Paris' 30th Anniversary'' was conducted on 24 May 2006. The pearl anniversary was held simultaneously at the museum
Copia Copia may refer to: * Copia Vineyards and Winery, a premium winery in Paso Robles, California * Copia (or Copiae), the ancient city and bishopric also called Thurii or Thurium, now a Latin Catholic titular *COPIA, a metal band from Melbourne, Aust ...
in Napa, California, and in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain's oldest wine merchant. The panel of nine wine experts at Copia consisted of Dan Berger,
Anthony Dias Blue Anthony Dias Blue (born January 5, 1941) is a published author, columnist, television and radio personality and the owner of a food and wine event company in Los Angeles, California. Career Blue has a long-running feature spot on WCBS radio in Ne ...
, Stephen Brook, Wilfred Jaeger, Peter Marks MW, Paul Roberts MS, Andrea Immer Robinson MS, Jean-Michel Valette MW and Christian Vanneque, one of the original judges from the 1976 tasting. The panel of nine experts at Berry Bros. & Rudd consisted of Michel Bettane, Michael Broadbent MW, Michel Dovaz, Hugh Johnson, Matthew Jukes, Jane MacQuitty, Jasper Morris MW,
Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...
OBE MW and Brian St. Pierre. The results showed that additional panels of experts again preferred the California wines over their French competitors. ;Results # –
Ridge Vineyards Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of on Mo ...
Monte Bello 1971 # –
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, four years after its establishment ...
1973 # –
Mayacamas Vineyards Mayacamas Vineyards is a California wine producer located in the Mt. Veeder AVA in the Mayacamas Mountains within the Napa Valley AVA, bordering the Sonoma Valley AVA. The estate is known for producing wine of a more traditional style than the Na ...
1971 (tie) # –
Heitz Wine Cellars Heitz Wine Cellars is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success o ...
'Martha's Vineyard' 1970 (tie) # –
Clos Du Val Winery Clos du Val Winery is a winery in the Stags Leap District of California's Napa Valley. Wine varieties grown include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, and Merlot. History The winery was founded by two men who were born into the French ...
1972 # –
Château Mouton-Rothschild A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
1970 # –
Château Montrose Château Montrose is a winery in the Saint-Estèphe appellation of the Bordeaux region of France. The wine produced here was classified as one of fourteen ''Deuxièmes Crus'' (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classificatio ...
1970 # – Château Haut-Brion 1970 # –
Château Leoville Las Cases A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...
1971 # – Freemark Abbey Winery 1969 Three of the Bordeaux wines in the competition were from the 1970 vintage, identified by the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) as among the four best vintages in the past 45 years or more. The fourth Bordeaux was a 1971, described by the Conseil as "very good". Another official French authority, the Office national interprofessionnel des vins (Onivins), rates the 1971 vintage as "excellent". The French wine producers had many years' experience making wine, whereas the California producers typically had only a few years' experience; the 1972 vintage was Clos Du Val's very first, yet it performed better than any of its French competitors.


Implications in the wine industry

Although Spurrier had invited many reporters to the original 1976 tasting, the only reporter to attend was
George M. Taber George McCaffrey Taber (born May 25, 1942) is a journalist and entrepreneur. Taber was a reporter and editor with ''Time'' magazine in the United States and Europe for 21 years, working in Brussels; Bonn; Houston; Washington, DC; and New York. S ...
from ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', who promptly revealed the results to the world. The horrified and enraged leaders of the French wine industry then banned Spurrier from the nation's prestigious wine-tasting tour for a year, apparently as punishment for the damage his tasting had done to its former image of superiority. The tasting was not covered by the French press, who almost ignored the story. After nearly three months, ''
Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
'' published an article titled "Did the war of the cru take place?" describing the results as "laughable", and said they "cannot be taken seriously". Six months after the tasting, ''
Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' wrote a similarly toned article. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that several earlier tastings had occurred in the U.S., with American chardonnays judged ahead of their French rivals. One such tasting occurred in New York just six months before the Paris tasting, but "champions of the French wines argued that the tasters were Americans with possible bias toward American wines. What is more, they said, there was always the possibility that the Burgundies had been mistreated during the long trip from the (French) wineries." The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 had a revolutionary impact on expanding the production and prestige of wine in the New World. It also "gave the French a valuable incentive to review traditions that were sometimes more accumulations of habit and expediency, and to reexamine convictions that were little more than myths taken on trust."


In the media

* ''
Bottle Shock ''Bottle Shock'' is a 2008 American comedy-drama film based on the 1976 wine competition termed the "Judgment of Paris", when California wine defeated French wine in a blind taste test. It stars Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, and Bill Pullman and is ...
'', a feature film starring
Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his deep, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and became a member of the Royal Shakespe ...
and Chris Pine, dramatized the 1976 wine tasting and debuted at the
2008 Sundance Film Festival The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was ''In Bruges'' and the closing night film was '' CSNY Déjà Vu''. Films ...
. A second film (''Judgment of Paris'', based on George Taber's book of the same name) was in production, and there has been controversy between the makers of the two films with allegations of defamation and misrepresentation. * ''
Modern Marvels ''Modern Marvels'' is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel and is currently shown on Story Television. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is History's f ...
'' (S:13, E:54 – "How Wine is Made".) Discussion of the event is summarized in this History channel show. * Hollywood screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen is filming the movie '' Judgment of Paris'' based on George Taber's book.


See also

*
A. W. Baxter A.W. Baxter (1928 – March 7, 2005) was a Californian winemaker who founded Veedercrest Vineyards which competed in the Judgment of Paris wine tasting. The Veedercrest entrant was Baxter's first commercial vintage Chardonnay. He began buying grap ...
*
Mike Grgich Miljenko "Mike" Grgić (born April 1, 1923) is a Croatian-American winemaker in California. He was born into a winemaking family in the town of Desne on Croatia's coastal region of Dalmatia. He is notable for being the winemaker behind the 197 ...
*
Warren Winiarski Warren Winiarski (born 1928) is a Napa Valley winemaker and the founder and former proprietor of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. Winiarski owns and operates Arcadia Vineyards in the Coombsville AVA of Napa Valley, which produces Chardonnay, Cabernet S ...


References


Further reading

* Hinkle, Richard Paul. The Paris tasting revisited. ''Wines & Vines'', August 1996, ''77(8)'', 32–34. * Hulkower, Neal D. The Judgment of Paris According to Borda. ''Journal of Wine Research'', 2009, ''20(3)'', 171–182. * * Peterson, Thane. The Day California Wines Came of Age: Much to France's Chagrin: a Blind Taste Test 25 Years Ago in Paris inadvertently launched California's fine wine industry. ''Business Week'', 8 May 2001. * * * Rice, William. Those winning American wines. ''The Washington Post'', 13 June 1976. * * * * ;30th anniversary * * * *Yadegaran, Jessica. Do the French grow old gracefully? ''Contra Costa Times'', 17 May 2006. *Yadegaran, Jessica. Napa v. Bordeaux, Round Two: Vintners re-enact famous '76 tasting. ''Contra Costa Times'', 25 May 2006.


External links


TIME Magazine: Modern Living: Judgement of Paris, 7 June 1976
by
George M. Taber George McCaffrey Taber (born May 25, 1942) is a journalist and entrepreneur. Taber was a reporter and editor with ''Time'' magazine in the United States and Europe for 21 years, working in Brussels; Bonn; Houston; Washington, DC; and New York. S ...
* ;30th anniversary tasting
Paris tasting recreated for 30th anniversary

"The Judgment of Paris: What the French didn't learn from the legendary wine-tasting."
30th anniversary article from Slate.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Judgment Of Paris (Wine) 1976 in France California wine History of Napa County, California French wine History of the San Francisco Bay Area Wine tasting Wine-related events 1976 in California Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area May 1976 events in Europe