05/23/2026
Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris, an event that would cement Napa Valley and California as a place that could make serious wine.
Steven Spurrier, an Englishman who owned a wine shop and academy in Paris, put together a lineup of the best California chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon against top producers of Bordeaux and Burgundy. The panel of judges tasted through the wines blindly and scored them.
The French judges were surprised by the results and added that they didn't think the wines could age. So in 2006, there was a retasting of the same vintages from the producers in both Napa Valley and London. Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon was by far the winner at both tastings.
After the tasting was completed, came out as the best chardonnay and won for cabernet sauvignon. The news spread and the rest is liquid poetry.
Mike Grgich, the winemaker for Chateau Montelena, would co-found his own winery, , the following year. John Williams, who was working at Stag's Leap when the 1973 cabernet sauvignon was bottled, would later co-found with Larry Turley on a former frog farm (frog farm + Stag's Leap = Frog's Leap).
We were fortunate to visit Grgich Hills and Frog's Leap last year and brought some bottles home. We also hosted a 10-year vertical of Stag's Leap Artemis for friends last year and they gifted us a bottle.
We'll celebrate in some fashion with a good meal and even better wines tomorrow. Stop by and grab a bottle for yourself.
