▻ The Story of the Judgement of Paris – Part I
Hosted by Sarah Kemp and John Stimpfig
Episode Summary:-
The Judgement of Paris was the most celebrated and significant wine tasting in modern history. It was the turning point for the California wine industry, and it was a turning point in many ways for other wine countries and regions, including France.
This month is its 50th anniversary, and to commemorate it, Sarah Kemp and John Stimpfig have created a four-part series telling the story of how Steven Spurrier’s blind tasting of some unknown “boutique” California wines beat top Bordeaux and Burgundy wines, judged by some of France’s most celebrated tasters.
In the series, they have exclusive interviews with Bella Spurrier, Steven’s wife, who took the photographs at the tasting, Patricia Gallagher, Steven’s assistant at the Academie du Vin, whose idea it was, Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena, the winning white Californian wine, Brian St Pierre, Media Director of the Wine Institute of California back in the 70s, and Hervé Berland, who arrived at Château Mouton Rothschild in 1977, and witnessed the reaction of the French châteaux.
In the first episode, Brian St Pierre describes how America was not a sophisticated wine market, with most wine lovers drinking jug wine, called California Burgundy and California Chablis – very few were educated wine drinkers. The so-called “boutique” wineries which took part in the Judgement of Paris tasting were mostly small start-ups, with the two winning California wines making less than 2,000 cases each.
Bo Barrett, whose father Jim had bought and renovated Chateau Montelena, describes California as “the wild west, no rules whatsoever.” There was more Riesling planted than Chardonnay and “nobody knew what to plant in any place, it was a grand experiment.” The book they turned to was Emile Peynaud’s “Knowing and Making Wine,” which was still only in French.
Over in France, Hervé Berland, ex Managing Director of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, describes how in the 70s Bordeaux market was difficult, the negociants were suffering, the chateaux were suffering and there was a lack of confidence in the Bordeaux market. The 1970 vintage was excellent but overpriced, and the following vintages were not outstanding. The 1973 oil crisis had not helped the market, and the Bordelaise were losing their most important market, Great Britain.
It was against this background that Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher decided to hold a tasting to celebrate the bicentenary of the independence of the U.S. They had no idea that it would make history.
In Part II, we meet two women who were actually present at the tasting, Patricia Gallagher and Bella Spurrier. They describe how the wines were chosen, and we hear again from Bo Barrett, who remembers being told by Chateau Montelena’s winemaker Mike Grigich to clean the cellar, as Steven Spurrier was coming to visit!
““The Judgement of Paris was the most celebrated and significant wine tasting in history. It was the turning point for the California wine industry, and it was a turning point in many ways for other wine countries and regions, including France.” – John Stimpfig ”
Sarah Kemp and John Stimpfig host a very special four-part series on The History of the Judgement of Paris.