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The Judgment of Paris was a blind tasting competition held in Paris in 1976 that pitted French wines against American wines. It was organized by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant and budding wine critic at the time and was intended to showcase the quality of California wines, which were not yet widely recognized as being even comparable with French wines. California was just not on the wine map.
The tasting was conducted by a panel of French wine experts, who tasted and graded the wines without knowing which wine was which. The wine world was left aghast when the winners were announced. The panel passed over the French wines and awarded the top honors to a couple of California wines - a Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. Taste and quality supplanted tradition and terroir. It was the equivalent to the L.A. Lakers losing to the Jamaican bobsled team in basketball. For centuries France had been the golden boy of the wine world canonized for bordeaux and burgundy wines and out of nowhere two obscure California wines took home the silverware.
The California wines that won and the California wine industry never looked back after that auspicious moment in Paris. California now dwarfs all other wine industries in the world on a dollar-for-dollar basis. For instance, the California wine industry contributed almost $60 billion to the State of California's economy in 2019 while France's wine industry generates $32 billion to the country's GDP when the Euro, France's currency, is adjusted to dollars.
As Tupac sang in his anthem "California Love" and Steve Spurrier who organized the Paris of Judgement would have agreed if alive today--"California, No Doubt About It."
For a wine like Snoop Dogg's Cali Red Blend to be commercially viable it needs to taste the same year after year.
The story begins in 2013 when Brazilian billionaire André Esteves and a group of investors took the reins of Argiano, a historic winery in Montalcino, from Countess Noemi Marone Cinzano and winemaker Hans Vinding-Diers. This change in ownership marked a strategic shift back to the roots of Brunello winemaking, fueled by a commitment to tradition and excellence.
The wine industry has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades, with the emergence of the online wine shipping market playing a pivotal role. This evolution has brought unprecedented convenience to wine enthusiasts, changing the way we discover, purchase, and enjoy our favorite wines. In this blog, we'll explore inflection points, market capitalization, and forecast for the future of the online wine shipping industry.
So, you've heard it all before: Cabernet Sauvignon, the undisputed ruler of American vineyards and the wine world.
When it comes to wine, the term "vintage" often gets tossed around, and it can...
Ownership details of the Trump Winery have undergone some changes over the years. According to legal notices on the winery's website, it suggests that the business is now Eric Trump's personal project, operating under the name "Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC."
Meghan Markle's passion for fine wine is no secret, and one of her all-time favorites was Antinori's Tignanello. Tignanello is a highly regarded Italian red wine, known for its rich and complex flavors, and it served as a precursor to the Super Tuscan wines. Meghan's love for this wine went beyond the palate; it became a symbol of her appreciation for luxury, such as owning a personal helicopter like Piero Antinori, the patriarch of Marchesi Antinori and the maker of Tignanello.
But what made the Cabrera gift stand out was how it diverged from the norm of players often being gifted Rolex watches from teams and teammates. But Cabrera plays for the Tigers so it is likely that his team will be gifting the legend something more befitting of his stature in baseball history. As for the bottle of Caymus he likely left in the opposing team's dugout after the game, here's hoping it finds its way back to the individual in the Athletics' front office who hatched this brilliance.
