▻ The Story of the Judgement of Paris – Part II
Hosted by Sarah Kemp and John Stimpfig
Episode Summary:-
In the second episode of The Story of the Judgement of Paris, Sarah Kemp tells how Steven Spurrier came to own a wine shop, Caves de la Madelaine, in Paris and how he set up the Academie du Vin, France’s first wine-appreciation school in modern times. Steven, unlike most French cavistes, visited numerous vineyards and was the first to import Guigal and Chave to the wider market of Paris.
He attracted many wealthy Americans after putting an advertisement in the International Herald Tribune stating, “Your wine merchant speaks English!” He also became friends with passing American journalists, including Robert Finigan and Frank Prial of The New York Times. Steven’s charismatic personality also meant that he made friends with many of the leading French journalists, and he regularly tasted with them on their tasting panels. When the locksmith shop next door became vacant, he bought it and turned it into the Academie du Vin, where regular educational tastings were held. Steven realised he needed an assistant and found one in a young American journalist, Patricia Gallagher.
Patricia tells how she met Steven while researching an article on Beaujolais Nouveau, and how after a couple of years she joined him as the Director of the Academie du Vin. It was Patricia’s idea to hold a tasting to commemorate the U.S. bicentenary. Friends in Napa had told her of the exciting wines being produced, but in Paris she could only find poor samples, so while on a trip back to America to visit her sister, she set off to the Napa Valley, guided in the choice of wineries by one of the leading U.S. wine critics, Robert Finigan, who steered her to several new small (christened “boutique”) wineries. Duly impressed by their wines, she returned to Paris and told Steven about her discoveries. The following April, Steven set off with his wife Bella to California to make the final selection of the wines.
Bella, Steven’s wife, takes up the story. “We weren’t always welcome because they thought we were French,” she laughs, and admits that the vintners had never heard of him. Steven bought the wines for the tasting and persuaded a group, about to travel to France for a vineyard tour, and headed by legendary winemaker Andre Tschelistcheff, to hand-carry them back to Paris.
Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena tells John Stimpfig about being told to clean the cellar by their winemaker, Mike Grigich, as Steven Spurrier was coming. He discusses how their wines were selling well on the West Coast of America. “I think our confidence was actually high that we would show Ok, I don’t think we had any thought we’d prevail,” he confesses. Barrett also explains how the wine was made back in the 70s, very different to how it is now.
““We weren’t always welcome (in California) because they thought we were French.” – Bella Spurrier”
The remarkable tale of how the tasting came about, and how the wines were sourced, told by the people who were actually there.