The Judgment of Paris

The Judgment of Paris

             For those of you who from time to time enjoy a good glass/bottle of wine, today is the anniversary of the Judgment of Paris, the competition in 1976 between the then still young California wine industry and the venerable French vintages.  The competition was sponsored by a seller of French wines and was intended to reinforce their position as the dominant vintners.

            It did not turn out so well.  Overall the California wines (including one of my favorites, Stag’s Leap) prevailed.  Some of the judges (they were all French) tried to recover their score cards.

George Tabor wrote a book about the competition that includes background information of some of the wineries involved and the (generally dismal) history of wine production in the US after Prohibition. HERE IS A LINK if you want to order a copy.  That book was subsequently made into  the movie Bottle Shock, featured Alan Rickman, who would go on to play a minor character in an entirely forgettable series of wizard movies.  HERE IS A LINK. 

Since 1976 the story of American wine has continued to change.