How Bordeaux overturned Judgment of Paris

On May 24, 1976 a young British wine merchant, Steven Spurrier, arranged a blind tasting in Paris between the top wines of Bordeaux and the relatively unknown top wines of California. It was predicted to be a walkover, and indeed it was but - shock, horror - not in the way everyone expected. The Californian upstarts won convincingly and the press made a meal of it.

The 'Judgment of Paris' (as it became known) thus passed into wine folklore and was milked by the Californian wine industry for every cent it was worth. A book of the same name was written

by George Tabers and two feature-length films have also been made – the most recent being Bottle Shock (2008), starring Alan Rickman as Spurrier. It was a Hollywood production, so, of course, the young, cool Californian winemakers are the heroes, Spurrier is a rather effete upper-class English gent and the factual boundaries are somewhat stretched.

So, what actually happened at this momentous event in Paris? The best French wines were probably Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Haut Brion 1970 - both first growths from a very good year. The best Californians were two Cabernet Sauvignons: Stag's Leap 1973 and 1971. The wines were tasted blind by mainly French expert tasters and, of course, the latter wines triumphed.

But actually, nearly everyone except the Californians agrees