The Paris Tasting: A Game-Changer in the World of Wine

45 years ago, in a Paris hotel, a group of France's top wine experts gathered for a blind tasting event.

The best French wines went head-to-head with rising stars from California. At the time, it seemed like an unfair battle – France’s wines were globally renowned, while Napa Valley was still an unknown. The outcome appeared to be a foregone conclusion.

But what followed was one of the greatest underdog stories in wine history. California wines impressed the judges and triumphed in both the red and white categories, surpassing the prestigious Bordeaux and Burgundy wines.

The sole journalist present, George M. Taber of Time magazine, later described the shocking event as 'the unthinkable.' He dubbed it 'The Judgment of Paris,' a name that would go down in history.

"It was a total game-changer," says Mark Andrew, wine expert and co-founder of Noble Rot magazine. "It thrust California wine into the spotlight, elevating it to the forefront of fine wine discussions." This moment marked a pivotal turning point for the wine world.

A Journey to California

The tasting was the brainchild of British wine merchant Steven Spurrier, who passed away in March 2021 at the age of 79. "He was a legend," says Andrew, who knew Spurrier for 15 years. "He was open-minded and truly understood wine, valuing its quality and intrinsic worth over its reputation."

In the early 1970s, Spurrier ran a wine shop and a nearby wine school called L’Academie du Vin in Paris. Both were aimed primarily at non-French speakers and were located on the Right Bank of the Seine, a hub for foreign banks and businesses.

Spurrier was known for showcasing wines from outside France at his shop and school, an act of defiance in Paris at the time. He viewed the tasting as a way to promote his business and challenge the local norms.

In 1975, Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher, an American colleague of Spurrier’s, visited California wineries and was struck by the improving quality of their wines. She suggested including them in the upcoming tasting and even proposed that it be held on the bicentennial of the 1776 American Revolution. She also encouraged Spurrier to visit California himself to select the best wines.

In early May 1976, Spurrier and his wife Bella traveled to San Francisco for a wine tour organized by Napa wine expert Joanne DePuy. "Steven wanted to visit the smaller, boutique wineries," DePuy recalls. "He had an excellent palate and always bought the wines he liked, paying full price."

Bottles on Board

DePuy played a pivotal role in organizing the tasting. Spurrier realized that bringing two dozen bottles of wine on a plane would be impractical, and they risked being held at customs. Instead, he asked DePuy to transport the wine to Paris, as she had a tour of French vineyards planned for mid-May. She was traveling with 30 Californian winemakers, so the bottles could be brought as part of their personal allowances.

"One bottle broke," DePuy recalls. "Steven met me in his signature white suit. We were waiting for my luggage and the wine cases. I smelled it before I saw it – one of the cases had red wine on the outside, and I said, ‘Oh no.’ But Steven was calm and said, ‘No problem, we have plenty of bottles.’ He had at least two bottles of each wine."

The long-awaited tasting was set for May 24, 1976, at the Intercontinental Hotel, just a short distance from Spurrier’s shop and school. The nine French judges included Odette Khan, editor of a prestigious wine magazine, and Aubert de Villaine, director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, one of Burgundy’s most renowned estates known for producing some of the finest and most expensive wines in the world.

The Day of Destiny

Spurrier never intended to stir controversy or embarrass his French judges. His goal was simply to spotlight Californian wines and attract attention to his wine school. However, he did spice things up by selecting four top white Burgundy wines and four renowned red Bordeaux blends from his own collection to compete against the American wines, all while concealing the labels.

"It was only at the last moment that Steven decided to switch the tasting from an open format to a blind one. Blind tastings are now standard practice, but back then, it was a revolutionary method for comparing wines," says Andrew.

Among the prestigious French wines Spurrier selected were Batard-Montrachet, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, and Chateau Haut-Brion – some of the finest wines in the world. The 12 Californian wines included Ridge Vineyards, Freemark Abbey, Spring Mountain, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, and Chateau Montelena – all virtually unknown in Europe at the time.

Journalist George M. Taber was handed a card listing the wines being served, giving him full knowledge of what the judges were tasting. He quickly realized the stakes were high when one judge tasted a white wine and declared, "This is definitely from California. It has no nose," even though he was tasting the Batard-Montrachet, a renowned Burgundy Chardonnay often regarded as one of the best white wines in the world.

The unimaginable was unfolding before their eyes.

When Spurrier tallied the scores, it was clear that California had triumphed in the white wine category, with a 1973 Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena taking first place, and three American wines landing in the top five. In the red category, a 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars edged out a 1970 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild from Bordeaux for the win.

The French judges were visibly shaken by the results. Odette Khan tried, unsuccessfully, to retrieve her scorecard, according to Taber, to prevent the public from seeing how she had ranked the wines. Aubert de Villaine later called the event "a slap in the face for French wine."

The Underdogs

Joanne DePuy recalls hearing the news. At the time, she was also in France, tasting wines with Californian winemakers. Among them were Jim and Laura Barrett, owners of Chateau Montelena.

"We were having lunch at a winery in Bordeaux when Jim Barrett received a call," she remembers. "I assumed it was one of his kids, as no one knew where we were. But after the call, Jim turned to me and whispered, ‘Our wine won in Paris.’"

The caller was, in fact, George M. Taber, seeking a quote from Barrett for his report. That quote has since become iconic in the history of the Judgment of Paris: “Not bad for kids from the sticks,” Barrett remarked, using an American term for a rural or isolated area.

DePuy was eager to spread the news to the others in the group, but with around 50 French wine merchants present, she held back. "After lunch, we boarded the bus and traveled down a long, tree-lined road – I can still picture it. We turned the corner, and everyone erupted in excitement, hugging and screaming. It was unforgettable," she recalls.

A Moment of Groundbreaking Significance

The tasting marked a historic turning point for wines from the New World, challenging the dominance of traditional wine regions like France, Italy, and Spain.

"In 1976, California wine was still in its infancy on the global stage, especially compared to the storied wines of Europe, and wines from places like Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Chile were practically unknown to European drinkers," says Andrew.

According to Andrew, the tasting was a watershed moment in modern wine history because it proved that New World wines deserved serious attention. It also revealed that some of France’s most esteemed wine experts – in a blind tasting – actually preferred the Californian selections.

"Even today, independent wine shops and fine dining restaurants are filled with Californian, Australian, and South African wines. One has to wonder: would this have happened so rapidly and so profoundly without Steven and the tasting he orchestrated?"

The Judgment of Paris has been recreated numerous times since 1976, including some events organized by Spurrier himself, often yielding strikingly similar outcomes.

In France, the tasting raised eyebrows and sparked debates about the selection process and the wines chosen, with many Bordeaux producers arguing that their wines were too young to truly show their potential.

Nevertheless, its importance remains untarnished.

Bottles from Chateau Montelena and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, the champions of the tasting, are now part of the collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Additionally, a 2008 film, *Bottle Shock*, offers a largely fictionalized take on the event, featuring Alan Rickman as Steve Spurrier.

Bella Spurrier, Steve’s wife and the sole photographer of the event, tells Dinogo that the tasting had a profound effect on her late husband’s life. "He was proud of it, but never imagined how far-reaching its impact would be. His goal was simply to share wines he believed were outstanding and well-crafted with a broader audience," she recalls.

"To him, every wine had a story, and that’s what he found in California. Much to the world’s astonishment at the time," she adds.