Judgement of Paris 30th Anniversary Tasting Results

May 24, 2006 -- The 30th anniversary of the most famous winetasting in history, the “Judgment of Paris,” was simultaneously and jubilantly recreated today at COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts and Berry Bros. & Rudd, in association with Steven Spurrier—wine writer, author and creator of the original event.

Today, The Tasting that Changed the Wine World: “The Judgment of Paris” 30th Anniversary brought together two panels of wine aficionados—one at COPIA in California’s renowned Napa Valley, the other at Berry Bros. & Rudd in London. The results from the recreation of the original Judgment of Paris tasting proved that California wines have the ability to age as well as their French counterparts, scoring Ridge California Cabernet Sauvignon 1971 as the unanimous choice for both the US and UK panelists. In addition, the top five scoring wines in the recreation were all from California, with Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 ranking second (winner of the 1976 Judgment of Paris), Heitz Martha’s Vineyard 1970 and Mayacamas 1971 tied for third, and Clos du Val 1972 rounding out the top five.

“It’s absolutely wonderful that California wines have shown that they can age as well as Bordeaux wines,” says Steven Spurrier, who put on the original tasting in honor of the bicentennial of the American Revolution. “Today’s event was most amazing—the link between California and UK has been extraordinary and uplifting.”

“It really felt like a celebration today,” says Peter Marks MW, COPIA Director of Wines and an Official Panelist for today’s tasting. “It’s well known that French wines have stood the test of time for centuries, and it’s wonderful to confirm that California wines have the ability to age gracefully, as well.”

At COPIA the nine California panelists included Dan Berger, Anthony Dias Blue, 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. Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher served as the USA Panel Chair. In 1976, Gallagher and her partner Steven Spurrier, directors of l'Académie du Vin, hosted a blind tasting of French and Californian wines which attracted attention worldwide to the quality of California wines. Special guest George Taber, author of Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine , was also in attendance at COPIA's re-enactment tasting.

At Berry Bros. & Rudd, the pre-eminent European contingent included France’s Michel Bettane, Britain’s Michael Broadbent MW, Michel Dovaz, Hugh Johnson, Matthew Jukes, Jane MacQuitty, Jasper Morris MW, Jancis Robinson OBE MW and Brian St. Pierre at Berry Bros. & Rudd. Steven Spurrier served as the UK Panel Chair.

The panelists simultaneously swirled, sniffed, sipped and spat their way through a blind tasting of the original reds sampled at the legendary tasting in Paris, then worked their way through a comparative tasting of younger vintages of red and white wines from the same and similar estates. The attached results, based on the Borda count system, were simultaneously announced today at a luncheon at COPIA and a dinner at Berry Bros. & Rudd.

The Judgment of Paris at COPIA was made possible by the generous support of MKF Research LLC, Texas Pacific Group and Wells Fargo.

WINES
First Flight
Original Judgment of Paris wines included six Cabernet Sauvignons from California: Clos du Val 1972, Freemark Abbey 1969, Heitz Martha’s Vineyard 1970, Mayacamas 1971, Ridge Monte Bello 1971 and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973; and four Bordeaux: Château Haut-Brion 1970, Château Léoville-Las-Cases 1971, Château Montrose 1970 and Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970.

Second Flight
California Chardonnay: Chateau Montelena 2003, Mount Eden 2002, Patz & Hall Hyde Vineyard 2004, Peter Michael  Point Rouge 2003, Ramey Hyde Vineyard 2002  and Talley  Rosemary’s Vineyard 2002.

Third Flight
White Burgundy: Bâtard Montrachet Grand Cru 2002, Louis Latour; Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Mouches 2002, Domaine Drouhin; Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Caillerets 2002, Louis Jadot; Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2003, Domaine Bonneau du Martray; Meursault Premier Cru Charmes 2002, Domaine Roulot; and Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Pucelles 2002, Domaine Laflaive.

Fourth Flight
Cabernet Sauvignon: Clos du Val  Reserve 2000, Joseph Phelps Insignia 2002, Ridge Monte Bello 2000, Shafer Hillside Select 2001, Staglin Family Vineyard 2001 and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23 2001.

Fifth Flight
Red Bordeaux: Château Haut-Brion 2000, Château Latour 2000, Château Léoville-Las-Cases 2001, Château Margaux 2000, Château Montrose 2000 and Château Rausan-Ségla 2000.


SOLD OUT - COPIA’s Exclusive Public Tasting
The Tasting that Changed the Wine World: The Judgment of Paris 30th Anniversary
Additionally, COPIA offered the public an opportunity to taste the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Flight younger vintage wines at an exclusive blind wine judging and book signing, followed by a panel discussion.

Saturday, May 27, 2006, 1:00 – 3:30 pm
$200 (includes admission)/$175 COPIA member
Also, meet author George Taber, who will sign copies of his classic account—The Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine.

SEATS STILL AVAILABLE - Panel discussion: Thirty Years Later—The Judgment of Paris
Saturday, May 27, 2006, 3:30 – 5:00 pm
Included with tasting (above)/Included with admission, space permitting
After the tasting, join Jim Barrett, Bernard Portet, George Taber, Warren Winiarski and others as they discuss the 1976 tasting and how it affected the wine world then and now. Moderated by Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher , Director of Wine, Le Cordon Bleu Paris and co-organizer of the original 1976 Paris Tasting.


About the “Judgment of Paris”
The first Judgment of Paris, held in 1976, sent shockwaves through the wine world when nine French wine experts declared through a blind tasting that wines from California were as good as, or better than, the best of the wines from French vineyards. Such was the standard of the California wines that some judges professed to be unable even to discern which wines were French and which American.

Borda Count System
The “Borda count” is described as a “consensus-based system,” rather than a majoritarian system.  Every taster voted on every wine, the points were added up and the wine with the most points was given the top ranking; the wine with the least points was given the bottom ranking.

The “Borda count” system was invented by French mathematician Jean-Charles de Borda in the late 18th century (1770 or 1781) to combat the irregularities of voting results in elections to the French Academy.  The system determines the winner of an election by giving each candidate a certain number of points corresponding to the position in which they are ranked by each voter.  In the flights of younger wines that were judged by the official and honorary panelists, the French wines were numbered 1-6 and the Californian wines numbered 7-12.  They were judged in separate flights - NOT comparatively, although tasters were welcome to make comparisons at the tasting table.  The wine MOST preferred by an individual taster received 6 points, the second most preferred wine 5 points, down to the least preferred wine, which received 1 point.  Tasters had a ballot paper to fill in for each flight of 6 wines with the wines in order of pouring 1 through 6, 7 through 12.  Against each wine they were asked to put their ranking: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – and nothing else.  Final calculations were made by the accounting departments at each venue.

“As Monsieur Jean-Charles de Borda might say  ‘Bonne Degustation’.” -- Steven Spurrier

Judgment of Paris Background Information

Panel Judges Biographies

Results of the May 24, 2006 tasting:
Final Results Re-enactment Tasting Observations (in PDF)

Final Results Younger Vintages Observations (in PDF)

Final Results from COPIA's Public Wine Tasting 5.27.06 (in PDF)

Press Coverage from the May 24, 2006 Tasting:
ABC News
UK The Independent newspaper
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle Wine Section (6.1.06)
Sacramento Bee
Napa Valley Register
Contra Costa Times
Wine World (Japan)

About COPIA:
Lean more about COPIA in Napa Valley

Check out COPIA’s wine programs

COPIA’s resident wine experts: Peter Marks MW and Burke Owens