The Judgment of Paris

In 1976, the late Steven Spurrier*, an English wine expert who owned a wine shop in Paris, decided pretty much on a whim to organize a blind tasting to coincide with America’s Bicentennial celebrations. For the tasting, he chose the best French judges, the finest of French wines and, just for the fun of it, included a few wines from little-known California winemakers. Spurrier hoped that the tasting would bring favorable attention to his wine shop… But he had absolutely no idea that the tasting, which became known as the “Judgment of Paris,” would have such an impact on the world of wine.

The blind tasting was held at the InterContinental Hotel in the center of Paris. The morning competition was devoted to white wines, the afternoon to reds. For the white wine tasting, Spurrier brought together the very best white wines of Burgundy: a 1973 Meursault-Charmes, 1973 Beaune Clos des Mouches, 1973 Bâtard-Montrachet, and a 1972 Puligny-Montrachet. Also included were several California Chardonnays that the French judges had never heard of. As one writer put it, “The judges expected to sniff and gag when they tasted the California wines.”

… But things just didn’t turn out that way… The nine French judges blind tasted the white wines and graded each of them. When the dust cleared, the clear winner was California’s 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay with 132 points, the highest total scored by any of the wines, white or red.

In the afternoon tasting of red wines, the judges gave their top ranking to the 1973 Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon, which outscored the best wines of Bordeaux, among them a 1970 Château Mouton-Rothschild, 1970 Château Haut Brion, 1970 Château Montrose from Saint-Estèphe, and 1971 Château Lèoville-La Cases from Saint-Julien.

Steven Spurrier was positively stunned. The Napa Valley wines had won both categories, against the best wines that France had to offer. The French judges were… well, yes… speechless. And a few tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress the results. A week later, journalist George Tabor, the only member of the press present, announced the story of the American triumph in Time magazine (a more detailed account of the event may be found in his book, published in 2005), sending shock waves throughout the wine world, clearly establishing California’s Napa Valley as a world-class wine region. Breaking the myth of French superiority, the American victory also gave new hope and energy to winemakers in countries such as South Africa, Italy, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand.

Interestingly enough, Miljenko “Mike” Grgich, a native of Croatia, the winemaker at Chateau Montelena, only learned that his wine had won via a congratulatory telegram from a friend in Paris. In fact, this was the first he learned that his wine had even been in the competition. Even the details of the telegram were sketchy; he still wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but he knew that it was something significant.

The success of his wine at the “Judgment of Paris” convinced Mike Grgich that he was ready to move on and start his own winery. In July of 1977, he and Austin Hills, of the Hills Brothers Coffee Company, broke ground to start Grgich Hills Cellar, which, from the very beginning, sold wines that were in high demand because of his success in Paris. Over time, the winery purchased 366 acres spread over five vineyards within the Napa Valley, allowing all Grgich Hills wines to be produced solely from estate-grown grapes. In recognition of this significant achievement, the winery changed its name to Grgich Hills Estate. On March 7, 2008, Mike Grgich was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintner’s Hall of Fame.

You may not be able to sample the original 1973 Chateau Montelena, a bottle of which, now resides in the Smithsonian, but you can still discover why Mike Grgich has come to be known as the “King of Chardonnay.” His 2017 Grgich Hills Estate Grown Chardonnay, which is available from various sources online, just received its highest ever rating from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, a whopping 93 points (100-point scale).

This is a wine that is easy to love. It is medium-bodied, rich & sumptuous, but not overdone. It is decidedly elegant on the palate; yet it possesses a beautifully balanced acidity that carries through to a zesty and vibrant finish. Reminiscent of a fine white Burgundy… at a fraction of the price. Retailing in the $35.00 – $45.00 range, the lowest price I’ve seen online is $34.00 per bottle (plus shipping) from Nicholas Wines, https://www.nicholaswines.com/, in Red Bank, New Jersey, which is where I purchased my six bottles. If you’re a Chardonnay lover, you’re in for a real treat.

*Steven Spurrier passed away on March 9^th at the age of 79. His obituary, as well as an informative article of remembrance, may be found in the New York Times. Both were written by Eric Asimov, the Times’s wine critic.

Cheers!

TAD