50 Years After the Judgment Of Paris, California Wine Understands Its Worth |
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50 Years After the Judgment Of Paris, California Wine Understands Its Worth
Half a century later, the impact of this French ruling continues to resonate, and the next generation takes their role as stewards of the land and fruit very seriously.
Down a dramatic palm tree-lined driveway dotted with immaculate flower beds, paved red bricks lead to a hacienda lobby where La Quinta Resort opens up like a portal to 1926. Just past the main entrance of the hotel’s restaurant, Morgan’s in the Desert, a small private room is labeled “Grgich” in the resort’s signature Spanish tiles. Unwitting visitors walk past the venue without thinking twice, but those familiar with Croatian-American winemaker Miljenko “Mike” Grgich may pause for a photo or an appreciative glance. Grgich’s profound winemaking and insistence on honoring California terroir was influential enough to bring Napa’s culture not just to the Coachella Valley, but across the world.
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As the winemaker behind Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Chardonnay, the highest-ranked vintage in the fateful Judgment of Paris blind tasting in 1976, Grgich was a driving force in establishing Napa as a world-class wine region. Soon after the competition, he opened his own winery, Grgich Hills Estate, and saved up to purchase a parcel of land in Rutherford, back when it was just a few thousand dollars. He worked as the winemaker there until 2018, when, at the age of 95, he finally retired and handed the reins over to his nephew, Ivo Jeramaz. Grgich passed away five years later at the ripe old age of 100, and missed out on the fanfare surrounding the 50th anniversary of the milestone that defined his career.
But half a century later, there’s a reason the Judgment of Paris is still a cornerstone of American wine lore. Napa wasn’t always synonymous with fine wine, and this watershed moment established California—and the New World in general—as a credible alternative to European producers. A David-and-Goliath story, the event has everything from shocking upsets and scrappy upstarts to New World versus Old World and humble farmers beating out prestigious producers. In France, the event isn’t remembered as fondly as in the U.S., but it didn’t inflict lasting damage; French wine is still globally beloved and arguably the most significant player worldwide.
A quick rundown for anyone who needs a refresher: Back in 1976, British importer Steven Spurrier proposed a blind tasting of the premier California chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon against the best Bordeaux reds and Burgundian whites. The tasting panel for the Paris wine competition was composed solely of French judges, who, without realizing it, overwhelmingly chose American wines as the winners, self-assured that they’d selected the best of France. (They even reportedly criticized the French wines they tasted, assuming they were California vintages.)
Thanks to the presence of an American journalist, George Taber, the results of the Judgment of Paris, as it came to be called, were captured and transmitted back to the States via a piece in Time magazine. “The U.S. winners are little known to wine lovers, since they are in short supply even in California and rather expensive ($6 plus),” goes Taber’s commentary. The story quickly caught fire, boosting the reputation of the American wineries that won, and signaling to the rest of the New World that American wine was just as good, if not better, than the legacy European houses. Or at least, it had a chance to be.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the historic event, Grgich........