Judgment of Paris (wine)

As a wine jury of Paris or Judgment of Paris refers to a wine merchant Steven Spurrier organized by the May 24, 1976 Wine tasting in Paris. The fact that the highest scores as expected went to the French, but the Californian wines, led in the professional world to considerable discussion. To date, French wines generally had a prominent reputation.

• 4.1 Wine tasting in San Francisco, 1978
• 4.2 tastings for the tenth anniversary 4.2.1 tasting of French Kulinar Institute 1986
• 4.2.2 tasting of Wine Spectator 1986

Jury

The eleven jurors were

Following the sample through a blind tasting, so that none of the jurors knew the identity of each wine tasted.

Results

White wines

The white wines were first validated. The comparison was aimed at Chardonnay wines that were grown in either Burgundy or California.

All eleven jurors awarded the maximum points to either the wine of the winery Chateau Montelena or Chalone, both in California.

Red wines ( Cabernet Sauvignon)

Rank - Country - wine - Average points (out of of 20)

" The wine, the one juror titled as" The greatness of France " proved to be a Cabernet from the Napa Valley in California. " Just as it was said: " This wine is definitely a Californian. He has no nose, said another judge - after tasting a Batard -Montrachet 1973 " The comments and the results proved that the judges were not able to distinguish Californian and French wines..

Three of the four Bordeaux wines of the tasting were from the excellent 1970, which was identified by the " Conseil Inter Professionnel du Vin de Bordeaux " as one of the four best vintages since 1930. The fourth Bordeaux wine was a 1971, described by the Conseil as " very good".

The Bordeaux wine agency rated the 1970 vintage for

• Pessac (Chateau Haut-Brion ) as the best 1966-1978 bordeaux -wine- office.com,
• Saint Estephe (Chateau Montrose ) as the best year 1961-1982 bordeaux -wine- office.com,

And the year 1971

• Saint -Julien (Chateau Leoville las Cases) as well.

" When the results were announced and processed, some jurors behaved badly: they refused to revise their remarks, and even tried to change his reviews before them Spurrier took away the score sheets. "

One of the jurors, Odette Kahn, tried to get back at the end of their sample list. Spurrier refused to support this, and afterwards she refused to speak to him, except that they accused him of having falsified the results of the sample. One of the winemakers who had won, Warren Winiarski, letters from people from the French wine business, which he declared that the trial was a farce received. In essence, argued the letters that " everyone knows that French wines are better than California, and they would always be there. " Even in 2005, some of the jurors refused to discuss on this sample, saying that it this " too much grieved ".

Although Spurrier had invited many reporters, was the only participant reporter George Taber from Time Magazine, the hinausgab the results into the world promptly. High-ranking people of the French wine scene exiled in consequence Spurrier for one year from the tasting tour of high- class wines, apparently as punishment for the damage his tasting had done to the image of the superiority of French wine.

The French press ignored the story almost. After nearly three months, Le Figaro published an article entitled " Did the War of the wines instead? " By the results were called " belächelnswert ". This " can not be taken seriously. " Six months after the trial, Le Monde wrote an article of a similar slip of the tongue.

The New York Times reported that many former wine tasting took place in the U.S., the American Chardonnays assessed against their French competitors. One of these samples took place in New York six months before the Paris sample instead, but " the champions of French wine argued that the tasters were Americans, with a possible preference for American wines. Next was said, it was always possible that the wines of Burgundy had been mistreated on their long journey from France to the United States. "

Analysis of the 1976 results

Spurrier said about the tasting: " The results of a blind tasting can not be predicted and will not be the same when tasting the same wines on the following day the same jury. "

Wine tastings have little scientific value in general. " A comparison of the ranks of 18 wines from good to bad is about as much consistency as a column of random numbers. "

The the 1976 evaluation was based on a simple average rating of the numerical values ​​. Spurrier was in the magazine Decanter to in August 1996 that he determined the winner, by " the judgments of the judges added and divided by nine (of which he later learned that it was statistically insignificant ) ." Spurrier did not include in his analysis a his own and Gallagher's values ​​.

Orley Ashenfelter and Richard E. Quandt analyzed the results of all eleven jurors by they used a statistically better method. They proposed the following ranking of these steps:

Ashenfelter and Quandt distinguish three statistically significant categories. At the top were the 1973 Stag's Leap and the 1970 Montrose ( number 1 and number 2). The second group contains the most of the remaining wine (No. 3-9 ). Wines in a group are statistically indistinguishable.

Responses

Some critics argued that French red wines would age better than California, so this proposal was tested.

Wine tasting in San Francisco, 1978

The San Francisco Wine Tasting 1978 was held 20 months after the Paris tasting. Spurrier flew from Paris to participate in the evaluation, which took place in the Vintners Club.

On January 11, 1978 tasted wine taster the same Chardonnays blind that had been tested earlier in Paris.

Rank Low Meursault Charmes were Roulot 1973 Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973 and Batard -Montrachet 1973 Ramonet - Proudhon.

On January 12, 1978 tasted wine taster Cabernet Sauvignons the same blind that had been tested earlier in Paris.

Low rank were Château Montrose 1970 Château Haut -Brion 1970 and Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1971.

Wine tastings for the tenth anniversary

Two wine samples were carried out on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the original Paris tasting. White wines have not been tested on the assumption that they were now behind her climax. These two samples yielded contrasting results.

Wine tasting of French Kulinar Institute 1986

Spurrier assisted at the anniversary sample. Eight judges tasted nine of the ten wines blind. The analysis gave the following result.

Tasting the Wine Spectator 1986

Four of the judges were experts at Wine Spectator magazine, and two were outsiders. All tasted the wines blind.

The sample that changed the world of wine: The Judgment of Paris, 30th Anniversary

A Neuverkostung was organized by Steven Spurrier on the occasion of the 30th anniversary in 2006 on both sides of the Atlantic. As The Times reported: " Although the French judges, many of whom had been present at the first tasting, the " expected defeat of American wineries, "she had to admit that the harmony of Californian Cabernets they have again beaten. "

Effect on the wine

The Paris wine tasting in 1976 had a revolutionary effect on the expansion of production and the prestige of the wines in the New World. She also gave the French a valuable incentive to rethink traditions that were often a collection of behaviors and practices, and to rethink relationships that were little more than myths, made ​​in confidence ( in tradition ). The result was the improvement of the wines around the world for the benefit of consumers.

Filming

The case was made ​​into a film in 2008 by Randall Miller, entitled " Bottle Shock ". In addition to Alan Rickman as Spurrier Bill Pullman, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodriguez, Eliza Dushku and Dennis Farina are seen in other roles.