How a Paris tasting rocked the wine world

In 1976, Englishman Steven Spurrier organized a wine tasting at his Parisian shop that pitted the best wines of France’s Bordeaux and Burgundy regions against similar wines from California. Fifty years later, we look back at what has come to be known as the Judgment of Paris as more than just wine lover’s lore. It’s a turning point that shook the world of wine, celebrated for sparking innovation and ushering in wine’s modern era.

In collaboration with his American colleague Patricia Gallagher, Spurrier’s purpose behind the tasting was three-fold. The primary reason was to promote his new wine shop, Cave de la Madeleine. The second was to celebrate the American Bicentennial, and the third was to test the quality of these new American wines against the very best wines the French had to offer. At the time, Californian wines were little known outside the United States, and certainly not considered to be in the same league as French wines, especially by the French.  

Listen to Eric and co-host Bridget Albert interview Juan Muñoz-Oca, Estates Director and COO for Marchesi Antinori USA, about the 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris wine tasting on the "Served Up" podcast. 

Play the episode above or on your favorite platform: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music (Transcripts available on Spotify.)

California’s wine history dates to the mid-19th century, when the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills accelerated the establishment of wineries. This brought hundreds of thousands of fortune seekers to California, among them European immigrants who brought wine culture with them and planted grape vines throughout the region. California’s warm, sunny summers and cool, rainy winters proved ideal for the cultivation of European grape varieties, and by the beginning of the 20th century, there were approximately 800 commercial wineries operating in the Golden State.

Unfortunately, while the wine industry was growing in the United States, so was the Temperance Movement. This well-organized and highly public anti-alcohol campaign ultimately led to the Volstead Act, which legally prohibited the commercial production and sale of alcoholic beverages in America in 1920.

During Prohibition, the wine industry was nearly wiped out. Only a few dozen wineries survived, eking out a living producing grapes and wine for medicinal and sacramental purposes, as well as for home winemakers, limited by law to a maximum of 200 gallons per household annually. After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the industry slowly recovered as new wineries were established and by 1960, 271 wineries were in existence in the United States.  

In 1964, Chicagoan Warren Winiarski, intrigued by wines he had tasted from California and elsewhere in the U.S., uprooted his family to Napa Valley where he took a position as an assistant to Lee Stewart at Souverain Winery. Warren was a quick study, and in 1966 landed an assistant winemaker position with Robert Mondavi, who had just constructed the first new post-prohibition winery in the valley.

In 1969, Winiarski purchased land in what is now the Stag’s Leap District and planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which were rapidly becoming the key grape varieties in Napa Valley due to compatibility with the climate and soil there. In 1973, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was officially established, producing Bordeaux-style red wines. Winiarski modeled his wines after the great Cabernet-based First Growth (Premier Grand Cru Classé) wines of Bordeaux: supple, complex, and elegant in style, well-structured but sufficiently soft to be enjoyed at an early age.

Even as Napa Valley’s wine quality surged under pioneers like Winiarski, European experts remained convinced that California terroir couldn’t compete with Old World tradition.  

Meanwhile back in Paris, final preparations were being made for the tasting, to be held on May 24, 1976. A panel of nine judges was established. All were French, and all had ties to the wine industry. The tasting format would be blind, i.e. the labels were not known, and two flights of wines would be tasted. One flight consisted of white wines, which included six California Chardonnays and four from Burgundy including a Grand Cru wine, Bâtard-Montrachet. The other flight, red wines, pitted six California Cabernet Sauvignons against four Bordeaux wines, all Grand Cru Classé and one a First Growth, Château Haut-Brion. Each judge was to rank each wine on a 20-point scale.

When the results were tallied and winners announced, much to the consternation (and likely embarrassment) of the French judges, California had bested the French wines in both flights. The white flight winner was Napa Valley’s Château Montelena 1973, and the red wine champion was none other than Stag’s Leap Vineyard 1973, the very first vintage. One French judge was so outraged by the results that she demanded her ballot back!

The surprising results of this monumental tasting might not have had nearly the impact but for the presence of George M. Taber, a Paris-based reporter for Time magazine. He was the only journalist in attendance and his article entitled “Judgment of Paris” was published in June and brought widespread recognition to the participating wineries and to the California wine industry in general. Taber later published a book on the tasting: “Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. “  

Back in California, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars quickly became one of Napa Valley’s consistently best wineries based on the ongoing success of their flagship wines S.L.V. (Stag’s Leap Vineyard), Fay Vineyard, and Cask 23 over the years. After a long, successful run, Winiarski sold Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in 2007 to pursue other interests and the famed Antinori family of Tuscany, Italy, became co-owners of the legendary estate. 

Today, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (distributed by Southern Glazer’s in multiple U.S. markets) is under sole ownership of the family, and they proudly carry on the legacy established by Warren Winiarsky. The Antinori family knows a lot about legacy, having been involved in the Tuscan wine trade for over 600 years, since 1385, and now under the management of the 26th generation of the family. 

The Judgment of Paris stands today as far more than a victory for California. The tasting challenged the global wine community to reconsider its assumptions, opening the door for winemakers around the world to push boundaries, experiment, and innovate.

Nearly fifty years later, the spirit of the 1976 tasting endures as a reminder that great wine can come from anywhere — and that the next breakthrough may arise from the most unexpected place.  

Southern Glazer’s "Served Up" podcast has been elevating voices in the beverage alcohol industry since 2020. Now, with Eric Hemer, MW, MS, joining Bridget Albert as co-host, expect thought leadership, industry insights, exclusive interviews, and inspiring conversations that drive innovation. Join us weekly as Bridget and Eric stir up the spirit of hospitality with lively conversations and plenty of personality.

Subscribe here: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music

Photo courtesy of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.