California reds win by a nose in tasting rematch
By Alan Hamilton and David Sanderson



THIRTY years had passed since the Judgment of Paris, when French
oenophiles received a red nose at the hands of American upstarts in a
blind wine-tasting competition.
But to the dismay of the French wine experts taking part in last
night's eagerly awaited rematch, Californian vintages have again
trumped their Gallic counterparts.



The nose-off began in 1976, when Steven Spurrier, an Englishman who
owned a wine shop in the French capital, invited a panel of French
experts to a blind tasting of some of their own classic vintages
against some Californian reds. To the horror of the entire French wine
industry, the Americans won hands down.

Last night Mr Spurrier and a group of British, French and American
tasters took part in the 30th anniversary re-enactment to discover
whether the shocking defeat for what was then the undisputed world
leader in viticulture could be reversed.

A simultaneous sampling of the same wines was staged in the Napa
Valley, California's main wine-producing area, and at Berry Bros &
Rudd wine merchants in London.

Despite the French tasters, many of whom had taken part in the original
tasting, "expecting the downfall" of the American vineyards, they
had to admit that the harmony of the Californian cabernets had beaten
them again. Judges on both continents gave top honours to a 1971 Ridge
Monte Bello cabernet from Napa Valley. Four Californian reds occupied
the next placings before the highest-ranked Bordeaux, a 1970 Chteau
MoutonRothschild, came in at sixth.

A delighted Paul Draper, the Monte Bello winemaker, said: "Maybe it
is final justification that it held through all these years and did
well."

The original tasting gave Californian producers a huge boost of
confidence, and America is now the fourth-largest wine producer in the
world.

"Not only did that tasting change people's perception of New World
wines for ever, it sparked an exchange of ideas that heralded a new
golden age of wine drinking," Mr Spurrier said.

wrote:
> California reds win by a nose in tasting rematch
> By Alan Hamilton and David Sanderson

> Judges on both continents gave top honours to a 1971 Ridge
> Monte Bello cabernet from Napa Valley.

I know that California is geologically quite active, but I'm
pretty sure the Monte Bello vineyard and winery are still in
the Santa Cruz Mountains and haven't moved 80 miles to the
north and into the Napa Valley.

;-)

Dana

Dana H. Myers wrote:
> wrote:
> > California reds win by a nose in tasting rematch
> > By Alan Hamilton and David Sanderson
>
> > Judges on both continents gave top honours to a 1971 Ridge
> > Monte Bello cabernet from Napa Valley.
>
> I know that California is geologically quite active, but I'm
> pretty sure the Monte Bello vineyard and winery are still in
> the Santa Cruz Mountains and haven't moved 80 miles to the
> north and into the Napa Valley.

Tastings such as this are all but meaningless in my opinion. The
problem is that the best years for certain US and French types are
seldom the same, and the rate at which the wines mature is often quite
different. The Monte Bello Ridge Cabernets from the 70s often were very
good and lasted well, with 1971 being one of the better ones. The 1970
Mouton is decent, but hardly near the top of Mouton vintages. If one
had selected the 1945 or 1961 Mouton, it likely would have won by a
landslide, but then the people from California would have complained
that the match was not fair because of the difference in ages of the
Mouton and Ridge wines. Then many of the French Bordeaux wines usually
are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon with lesser amounts of other wines,
while many of the better Cabernets from California in the 70s were
either pure or mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. Thus one is comparing apples
and oranges, to some extent. I could make US wines look quite bad by
selecting the 1974 BV private reserve(this did not live up to early
expections and often is over the hill now) and Mouton Rothschild 1945.
I could make French wines look quite bad by selecting Lafite-Rothschild
1968 and BV private reserve 1968. However this type of "test" makes
good copy for the press.

cwdjrxyz wrote:


> Tastings such as this are all but meaningless in my opinion[...]However this type of "test" makes
> good copy for the press.
>

I agree with you about the meaning, but Spurrier's 1976 tasting was
rather more important as it gave a fledgling CA wine industry some
international exposure. This more recent one's significance derives
most of its value from the original one, as the "battle" is mostly over
now and both CA and Bordeaux are vastly different places than they were
in '76. One of the other factors rendering this competition even more
absurd is the fact that it was conducted in two locations with no way to
verify that the condition of the wines in the two venues was the same.
The vastly different showings for the Martha's and Mayacamas suggest
that bottle variation may have played a role in the outcome.

Mark Lipton

I say "buy CA wines everyone, they are the best"

then the 05 en primeur bdx prices may slide a little and
I'll be able to afford a few more (or move upscale) :-))))!

greybeard
(who is trying to secure a few 05 bdx bottles for the cellar)