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Event Report: All American Wines: A Pre-Celebration of America’s 250th Birthday & the 50th Anniversary of the Judgement of Paris
Our August event at Flemings celebrated 1976 The Judgement of Paris by featuring only wines from the United States. Out of the evening’s wine line up, two wineries participated in the Judgement: Chateau Montelena and Stag’s Leap. The original idea for the tasting was not the frequently mentioned Stephen Spurrier, an Englishman who had a Paris wineshop and started an Academe du Vin school, but his assistant Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher, a young American woman who had urged Spurrier’s Academie du Vin, which had been holding 4th of July tastings, to upgrade for the bi-centennial tasting and do something more promotional. Patricia is the one who put the tasting together, doing crucial leg work in California to find the best examples of California winemaking. The event, which was not conceived as being a competition, was just an educational event to share California wines with people they respected. The 5/24/1976 event featured 10 white wines and 10 red wines. It was decided
Story by Tom Murnan. Photos by Tom Murnan
to serve the wines blind because of the fear that the French might damn with faint praise any California wines that might win a higher score than French wines. A 20-point scoring system was used. The white wines were tasted and scored first, whereby Spurrier announced just that scorers had given the top mark to the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay. He believes that some judges became determined to pick a French red as the best in that category. The results of the tasting, based on scores, were as follows:
Whites: 1973 Château Montelena (132), 1973 Domaine Roulot Meursault-Charmes (126.5), 1974 Chalone (121), 1973 Spring Mountain (104), 1973 Drouhin Beaune “Clos des Mouches” (101), 1972 Freemark Abbey (100), 1973 Ramonet-Prudhon BâtardMontrachet (94), 1972 Domaine Lefaive Puligny-Montrachet “Les Pucelles” (89), 1972 Veedercrest (88), 1973 David Bruce (42).
Dubois-Millot, a director of Le Nouveau Guide; Pierre Tari, owner of Château Giscours; Raymond Oliver, owner of the restaurant Le Grand Vefour; and Jean-Claude Vrinat, owner of the restaurant Taillevent.
Reds: 1973 Stag’s Leap (127.5); 1970 MoutonRothschild (126), 1970 Haut-Brion (125.5), 1970 Montrose (122), 1971 Ridge “Monte Bello” (103.5), 1971 Leoville-las-Cases (97), 1971 Mayacamas (89.5), 1972 Clos du Val (87.5), 1970 Heitz “Martha’s Vineyard” (84.5), 1969 Freemark Abbey (78). All the Californian reds were labeled Cabernet Sauvignon.
The nine members of the Paris wine jury were all French and included Christian Vanneque, sommelier of La Tour d’Argent; Pierre Brejoux, inspector general of the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine Contrôleé (AOC); Odette Kahn, director of the highly influential Revue de Vin de France; Michel Dovaz of the Institut Oenologique de France; Aubert de Villaine, co-director of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti; Claude
Odette Kahn, who thought she was being bamboozled, even demanded that her ballot be returned. The results were made known in Time Magazine 7/7/1976, buried on page 58 without byline.
The results of the Judgement were felt more in the United States than in France. It showed that French wine was not automatically better than Californian. It completely reversed the perceptions of American wine buyers and provided validity and the stamp of quality to an innovative, young wine Californian industry. Source:
https://www.bevinars.com/2024/08/littleknown-nuggets-about-the-1976-judgmentof-paris/
As always, Flemings did a top-notch job, with their signature Onion Rings, Beef Wellington bites, Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, Summer Salad, Prime New York Strip and Apple Galette à la mode. Many thanks to Jill Goldstein, who conceived the wine theme, and Michelle Hyder, who tutored us with the wine notes.
The 9 Judges for the 1976 Judgement of Paris
