Redo of the 1976 tasting!

WINE TALK
21

This looks like great fun. I wish Patrick and the others great success.

22

While possibly true, the US actually did better in the re-tastings (from Wiki):

San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978

The San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 was conducted 20 months after the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. Steven Spurrier flew in from Paris to participate in the evaluations, which were held at the Vintners Club.[5][9]

On 11 January 1978, evaluators blind-tasted the same Chardonnays tasted earlier in Paris.

  1. USA – 1974 Chalone Vineyard
  2. USA – 1973 Chateau Montelena
  3. USA – 1973 Spring Mountain Vineyard
  4. France – 1972 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive.

Ranking lower were Meursault Charmes Roulot 1973, Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973, and Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon 1973.

On 12 January 1978, evaluators blind-tasted the same Cabernet Sauvignons tasted earlier in Paris.

  1. USA – 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
  2. USA – 1970 Heitz Wine Cellars Martha’s vineyard
  3. USA – 1971 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello
  4. France – 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild.

Ranking lower were Château Montrose 1970, Château Haut-Brion 1970, and Château Leoville Las Cases 1971.

French Culinary Institute Tasting of 1986

Two tastings were conducted by the French Culinary Institute (now called the International Culinary Center) on the tenth anniversary of the original Paris Wine Tasting. White wines were not evaluated in the belief that they were past their prime.[5]

Steven Spurrier, who organized the original 1976 wine competition, assisted in the anniversary tasting. Eight judges blind tasted nine of the ten wines evaluated. The evaluation resulted in the following ranking:

Results

Rank Wine

  1. USA – Clos Du Val Winery 1972
  2. USA – Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971
  3. France – Château Montrose 1970
  4. France – Château Leoville Las Cases 1971
  5. France – Château Mouton Rothschild 1970
  6. USA – Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973
  7. USA – Heitz Wine Cellars 1970
  8. USA – Mayacamas Vineyards 1971
  9. France – Château Haut-Brion 1970

Wine Spectator Tasting of 1986

Four of the judges were experts from Wine Spectator and two were outsiders. All tasted the wines blind.

Results

Rank Wine

  1. USA – Heitz Wine Cellars 1970
  2. USA – Mayacamas Vineyards 1971
  3. USA – Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971
  4. USA – Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973
  5. USA – Clos Du Val Winery 1972
  6. France – Château Montrose 1970
  7. France – Château Mouton Rothschild 1970
  8. France – Château Leoville Las Cases 1971
  9. USA – Freemark Abbey Winery 1969
  10. France – Château Haut-Brion 1970

30th anniversary

A 30th anniversary re-tasting on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was organized by Steven Spurrier in 2006. As The Times reported “Despite the French tasters, many of whom had taken part in the original tasting, ‘expecting the downfall’ of the American vineyards, they had to admit that the harmony of the Californian cabernets had beaten them again. Judges on both continents gave top honors to a 1971 Ridge Monte Bello cabernet. Four Californian reds occupied the next placings before the highest-ranked Bordeaux, a 1970 Château Mouton-Rothschild, came in at sixth.”[10][11]

The Tasting that Changed the Wine World: ‘The Judgment of Paris’ 30th Anniversary was conducted on 24 May 2006.[12]

The pearl anniversary was held simultaneously at the museum Copia in Napa, California, and in London at Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine merchant.[11]

The panel of nine wine experts at Copia consisted of 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.[12]

The panel of nine experts at Berry Bros. & Rudd consisted of Michel Bettane, Michael Broadbent MW, Michel Dovaz, Hugh Johnson, Matthew Jukes, Jane MacQuitty, Jasper Morris MW, Jancis Robinson OBE MW and Brian St. Pierre.[12]

The results showed that additional panels of experts again preferred the California wines over their French competitors.[11]

Results

  1. USA – Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971
  2. USA – Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973
  3. USA – Mayacamas Vineyards 1971 (tie)
  4. USA – Heitz Wine Cellars ‘Martha’s Vineyard’ 1970 (tie)
  5. USA – Clos Du Val Winery 1972
  6. France – Château Mouton-Rothschild 1970
  7. France – Château Montrose 1970
  8. France – Château Haut-Brion 1970
  9. France – Château Leoville Las Cases 1971
  10. USA – Freemark Abbey Winery 1969

Three of the Bordeaux wines in the competition were from the 1970 vintage, identified by the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) as among the four best vintages in the past 45 years or more. The fourth Bordeaux was a 1971, described by the Conseil as “very good”. Another official French authority, the Office national interprofessionnel des vins (Onivins), rates the 1971 vintage as “excellent”.

The French wine producers had many years’ experience making wine, whereas the California producers typically had only a few years’ experience; the 1972 vintage was Clos Du Val’s very first, yet it performed better than any of its French competitors.

4 Likes
23

The original tasting made sense because they generally did take the “best” bdx and paired them again the best Napa cabs

I don’t think the whites did that. Obviously ramonet and leflaive are good producers but those weren’t their best wines.

24

I had forgotten that the NYC somms had two wines tied for first. Believe that Jancis and crew had Bloom’s field as the outright winner.

The NYC Somms included Aldo Sohm, Laura Fiorvanti, Pascaline Lepeltier, Sabato Sagaria so it was not just random tasters giving their thoughts.

I found the whole thing fascinating. I love blind tasting and in general, SommTV’s blind tasting segments are some of my favorite.

1 Like
25

I think for Pinot and chard if you price capped the wines, the US producers (especially Oregon) would likely win. We did a similar tasting with goodfellow and the goodfellow wines generally won, although it looked like the DDLC did less well in the event last year.

I think if you set no price cap the French wines would win, and likely convincingly. I also think very few people would want to spend the money to make that tasting happen, although I could be wrong.

26

“I will further undercut the results by noting that three or four years ago I participated in another Paris-style taste-off between seven Bordeaux and seven California wines, mostly from the 1970 vintage. In the well-aged company of Bordeaux superstars like Pétrus, Latour and La Mission Haut-Brion, California took the top three spots, led by a Gemello 1970 from the Santa Cruz Mountains, a wine that is both obscure and legendary.”

This was a dinner I organized in 2001, the 25th anniversary, at 11 Madison. 15 out of 16 placed the Gemello first, and John Gilman is still convinced that the sommelier managed to confuse it with the La Mission 1975. In addition to the Gemello, California wines were second (Heitz Martha’1970) and third (Georges de Latour 1970) The 1977 Eisele was sadly corked, but everybody got a sense of its greatness. Top Bordeaux Petrus 1970 in fourth place.

The 1970 Gemello is still quite fresh, an amazing wine considering the barrels were made of redwood, and the winemaker had put on the label, it should be drunk within five years. The 1960 was showing beautifully at a friend’s birthday a couple of years ago.

2 Likes
27

This.