Judgment of Paris (wine) facts for kids

The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a famous wine competition held in Paris, France, on May 24, 1976. It was organized by Steven Spurrier, a British wine seller, and his colleague, Patricia Gallagher. In this competition, French wine experts tasted wines without knowing what they were (this is called a blind tasting). They compared two types of wines: white Chardonnay wines and red wines (from France and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Napa Valley, California). Everyone was surprised when wines from Napa Valley, California, won in both categories! At the time, France was thought to make the very best wines in the world. Steven Spurrier, who only sold French wines, actually thought the California wines wouldn't win.

The event's nickname, "Judgment of Paris," comes from an old Greek myth.

The Wines Tasted

The competition featured two main types of wine: red wines and white wines. The red wines were a mix of famous French Bordeaux wines and American Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California. The white wines were French Burgundies and California Chardonnays.

Red Wines

Here are the red wines that were part of the tasting:

White Wines

And here are the white wines that were tasted:

A bottle of 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won the white wine competition.

The Judges

When the results were announced French judge Odette Kahn demanded her ballot back and later criticized the Paris tasting.

Eleven people were chosen to be judges for this special event. Most of them were French wine experts. They included wine sellers, writers, and chefs.

How the Tasting Worked

The judges tasted the wines without knowing which wine was which. This is called a blind tasting. They were asked to give each wine a score out of 20 points. There were no strict rules on how to score, so each judge used their own ideas.

After all the scores were in, the wines were ranked based on the judges' grades. Interestingly, the scores from Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher were not included in the final overall ranking. Only the scores from the French judges were used to decide the winners.

The Surprising Results

The results of the Paris Wine Tasting shocked the wine world! California wines, which were not as famous as French wines at the time, won in both the white and red wine categories.

White Wine Results

Here's how the California Chardonnays compared to the French Burgundy Chardonnays:

Official Jury Results:

Rank	Grade	Wine	Vintage	Origin
1.	132	Chateau Montelena	1973	USA
2.	126.5	Meursault Charmes Roulot	1973	France
3.	121	Chalone Vineyard	1974	USA
4.	104	Spring Mountain Vineyard	1973	USA
5.	101	Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin	1973	France
6.	100	Freemark Abbey Winery	1972	USA
7.	94	Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon	1973	France
8.	89	Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive	1972	France
9.	88	Veedercrest Vineyards	1972	USA
10.	42	David Bruce Winery	1973	USA

Red Wine Results

And here are the results for the California Cabernet Sauvignons versus the French Bordeaux wines:

Official Jury Results：

Rank	Grade	Wine	Vintage	Origin
1.	127.5	Stag's Leap Wine Cellars	1973	USA
2.	126	Château Mouton-Rothschild	1970	France
3.	125.5	Château Haut-Brion	1970	France
4.	122	Château Montrose	1970	France
5.	105.5	Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello	1971	USA
6.	97	Château Leoville Las Cases	1971	France
7.	89.5	Mayacamas Vineyards	1971	USA
8.	87.5	Clos Du Val Winery	1972	USA
9.	84.5	Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's Vineyard	1970	USA
10.	78	Freemark Abbey Winery	1969	USA

Impact on the Wine World

Even though Steven Spurrier invited many reporters to the tasting, only one, George M. Taber from Time magazine, actually showed up. He quickly shared the surprising results with the world.

The French wine industry was very upset. They even banned Spurrier from their famous wine-tasting tours for a year. They felt his tasting had damaged France's image as the best wine producer. The French news mostly ignored the story at first. Months later, some French newspapers did write about it, calling the results "laughable" and saying they "cannot be taken seriously."

However, this event had a huge impact. It helped American wines, especially those from California, become much more popular and respected around the world. It also encouraged French winemakers to look closely at their own traditions and improve their wines. The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 showed everyone that great wine could come from places other than France.

In the Media

The story of the Paris Wine Tasting has been told in movies and TV shows:

• Bottle Shock is a movie from 2008 that tells the story of the 1976 wine tasting. It stars Alan Rickman and Chris Pine.
• The TV show Modern Marvels (on the History channel) also talked about this event in an episode called "How Wine is Made."
• Another movie, Judgment of Paris, based on George Taber's book, was also planned.

Images for kids

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  Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Ridge's Monte Bello vineyard.

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  Château Haut-Brion was judge Pierre Brejoux's highest ranking red wine selection.

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  Château Montrose was judge Claude Dubois-Millot's highest ranking red wine.

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  Chateau Mouton Rothschild was judge Michel Dovaz's highest ranking red wine.

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  Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was judge Odette Kahn's highest ranking red wine.

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  Paul Draper was the winemaker who created the Ridge Monte Bello wine that was judge Pierre Tari's highest rated red.

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  Judge Christian Vanneque was head sommelier at the Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent when he participated in the tasting.

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  Château Haut-Brion was judge Aubert de Villaine's second highest red after Chateau Montrose.