California reds win by a nose in tasting rematch

Posted on May 25, 2006
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Totally off topic but I’m reading a book about the original Judgement of Paris, a competition between California and French wines in the 1976, so it was pretty cool to read about the rematch and how California won - again. What is really amazing to think about is how the top placed California wines, and overall winner, date back to the early 1970s. I can only imagine how some of the finest wines being produced today will fair in that same timeframe, which also destroys the notion that Napa cabernets peak at 12-15 years.

Incidentally, the wine industry is in the midst of a technology buying binge with wireless sensors monitoring moisture, soil pH, and temperature in individual vines and irrigation systems that rival nuclear power plants in complexity. The precision that is achieved in modern vineyard operations is still tempered by the art that is making great wine, as it should always be.

Today marked the 30th anniversary of the fateful Judgment of Paris, where European wine experts selected California wines in a double blind tasting over their French counterparts. Those of you who follow wine news with any regularity know that there’s been quite a bit of hoopla these past few weeks about today’s recreation of that 1976 tasting. The Rothschilds nearly boycotted the tasting, then there were moments when it seemed that the tasting wasn’t going to be blind at all, and various people, including some of the judges cried foul.

“Judgment of Paris : California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine” (George M. Taber)

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