Taber - Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris tasting that revolutionized wine

A vigorous account of the dare that made connoisseurs think differently about California wines. An intoxicating indulgence for Sideways fans, and an education for would-be wine sophisticates.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A vivid, robust story that goes down smoothly.

Clarissa Cruz and Paul Katz, Entertainment Weekly

Taber has fashioned an entertaining, informative book. This is a serious business book, too, sure to be required reading for American vintners and oenophiles.

Publishers Weekly

[A] sprightly and definitive account.

Jerry Adler, Newsweek

Detailed, evocative.

Peter M. Gianotti, Newsday

Heres the inside tale of the dramatic tasting session that transformed the wine industry. George Taber was the only reporter there, and he tells the tale with the same authority, depth, and clarity as the American wines that won. His tale has fascinating characters, great locales, and a fine bouquet.

Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin

Although the topic may seem narrow, Judgment of Paris focuses a wide lens on the world of wine, and the results are intoxicating.

T. J. Foderaro, The Newark Star-Ledger

[George Taber] has written an engrossing book that puts the Paris Tasting into good historical context. Even readers who know about the Paris Tasting will find plenty thats new in Judgment of Paris . And those who have only a vague idea about the event will get an important lesson in a watershed event for California wine.

Laurie Daniel, San Jose Mercury News

George Taber was alone among journalists to attend the wine worlds Declaration of Independence from French supremacy. He tells the story of the California wine revolution with verve showing how the upstarts managed to surprise the complacent French. This is a rare book about wine to be sipped, not gulped.

William Echikson, author of Noble Rot

Taber uses the Paris Tasting as a container for a delicious mix of Old and New World winemaking techniques, the economics and politics of wine, and an overview of worldwide winesbeautifully rendered. It seems a shame to use a bent clich to sum up such a well-written and clich-free book, but Judgment of Paris belongs on the shelf of any wine lover worth his/her Grand Cru.

Bob Fishburn, The Roanoke Times (Virginia)

You dont have to dislike the French to enjoy this book, but it doesnt hurt. Judgment of Paris recalls how, in 1976, American underdogs bit the big poodle where it really hurtin the wine culture, where France had been top dog since the Middle Ages. Its a great tale, well told.

Ralph Peters, New York Post

Half the fun of appreciating wine is drinking in the history. [George Taber] puts the impact of [the 1976 tasting] into perspective, offering a prehistory of things to come with globalization and corporate influences in todays wine industry.

Gil Kulers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This book gets my highest recommendation for its engrossing storytelling of a tale that needs telling.

Charles Olken, Marin Independent Journal (Marin, California)

Taber recounts the story of that memorable day in a clear, well-written, and fascinating style.

Dave Buchanan, Monterey County Herald (California)

For those of us who were lucky enough to be part of the fun at Steven Spurriers wine shop in Paris, this book is a trip down memory lane. For everyone else, Taber brings the event to life brilliantly with insightful portraits and a reporters eye for telling detail.

Don and Petie Kladstrup, authors of Wine & War

Nearly thirty years later, Tabers book outlines an historic event that is relevant, captivating, and compellingeven for nonwine aficionados. The petty wine war that the Paris Tasting set off had one big winner: good wine. And one big loser: good winefrom France.

Christian Vannequ, Vannequ Publishing, Judge at the 1976 Paris Tasting

Judgment of Paris is a fascinating recounting of that historic event that was like a lightning rod to the budding wine scene in California. It is a must-read for anyone interested in wine.

Daniel Johnnes, Wine Director, Montrachet, and President, Daniel Johnnes Wines

Spirited, intelligent, and a deliciously entertaining good read. Essential for anyone who has ever enjoyed a good bottle of California wine.

Anthony Dias Blue, Executive Director of the San Francisco International Wine Competition

I devoured Judgment of Paris and it is dazzlingreads like a thriller, with the added benefit that the scholarship is impeccable too!

Orley Ashenfelter, the Joseph Douglas Green 1895 Professor of Economics at Princeton University and Publisher of Liquid Assets: The International Guide to Fine Wines

SCRIBNER

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Text copyright 2005 by George M. Taber

Illustrations copyright 2005 by Nigel Holmes

Photograph of Mike Grgich copyright Lindy Lindquist

Photographs courtesy of Jim Barrett, Steven and Bella Spurrier, and Warren Winiarski

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

SCRIBNERand design are trademarks of Macmillan Library Reference USA, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, the publisher of this work.

DESIGNED BY ERICH HOBBING

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Taber, George M.

Judgment of Paris : California vs. France and the historic 1976 tasting that revolutionized wine / George M. Taber.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Wine tastingFranceParisHistory20th century. 2. Wine industryFranceHistory20th century. 3. Wine industryCaliforniaHistory20th century. 4. Wine and wine makingFranceHistory20th century. 5. Wine and wine makingCaliforniaHistory20th century. I. Title.

TP548.5.A5T23 2005

641.22094436109047dc22

2005044146

ISBN-10: 1-4165-4789-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-4789-1

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Contents

by Robert G. Mondavi

Part One:
A Driving Dream

Part Two:
The Awakening

Part Three:
The Judgment of Paris

Part Four:
The New World of Wine

Foreword by Robert G. Mondavi

I t was one hundred years ago that my father came to the United States and began to make wine here. And it was just nearly thirty years ago that the Judgment of Paris took place. I like to think about the advances we made over the two generations until that tasting took place and about the progress weve made since.

I always knew we had the soil, the climate, and the grape varieties to make wines in the Napa Valley that could rank with the great wines of the world. When we started, we did not have the knowledge of how to accomplish our goals, but I knew we had to begin.

It was my pleasure to have worked with Mike Grgich and Warren Winiarski, who are the real heroes of this book. They were certainly more adept than I, but I like to think that they grasped my vision of what could be done in the Napa Valley, and I know we worked and planned and dreamed together that a day like that bicentennial event in 1976 could occur.

It was also a pleasure to meet Steven Spurrier and later his associate Patricia Gallagher here at the winery. Believe methere were not a great number of believers in those days and we prized every one. In London we had a few people who knew what we were doingHugh Johnson, Michael Broadbent, and Harry Waughbut until Steven we had no one in France. It was a real treat to go to Cit Berryer and see California wines for sale at the Caves de la Madeleine!