The changing landscape

Abstract

Back in 1976, Steven Spurrier, the former vintner turned world French-wine champion, organized an international wine tasting competition in Paris. The categories he selected were Cabernet Sauvignon for the reds, and Chardonnay for the whites. The competing wineries were from the US and France. The judges were French, and the tasting would be done blind so that the tasters would not know which varieties they were sampling. Everything about the event pointed to the French wines taking the day. But to the surprise of all concerned, the US wines came top in both categories. What’s more, among the top ten wines of both colors, six were from California, and just four from France. George Taber, in his book Judgment of Paris,¹⁹ argues that this event marked the beginning of the globalization of the wine sector: for the first time, New World wines had beaten those of the Old World, and what’s more, on the basis of the decision of French judges.