San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978
The
San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978 was conducted 20 months after the historic
Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 in which leading French experts blind tasted and ranked California red and white wines higher than all their prestigious French competitors.
Steven Spurrier flew in from Paris to participate in the evaluations, which were held at the Vintners Club.
On January 11, ninety-eight evaluators blind tasted the same Chardonnays earlier tasted in Paris. The 1974
Chalone Winery was ranked the highest, the 1973
Chateau Montelena came in second, followed by the 1973
Spring Mountain Vineyard. In fourth place was the 1972
Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive. Ranking lower were
Meursault Charmes Roulot 1973,
Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin 1973, and
Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon 1973.
On January 12, ninety-nine evaluators blind tasted the same Cabernet Sauvignons earlier tasted in Paris. The 1973
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars again won first place. It was followed by the 1970
Heitz Wine Cellars Martha's vineyard in second place and the 1971
Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello in third place. In fourth place was the 1970
Château Mouton Rothschild. Ranking lower were
Château Montrose 1970,
Château Haut-Brion 1970, and
Château Leoville Las Cases 1971.
It should be noted that the French Cabernet Sauvignons in the
wine competition were the "best of the best." Three were from the 1970
vintage, identified by the Conseil Interprofessionel du Vin de Bordeaux as among the four best vintages in the past 45 years or more. The third was a 1971, described by the Conseil as "very good." [
1]Thus, three of the four French red wine entries were First Growths (the best in Bordeaux) from one of the best vintages in almost half a century.
*
Paris Wine Tasting of 1976*
Wine Olympics*
Great Chardonnay Showdown*
French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986 Tenth anniversary replication of Paris competitio.
*
Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986 Tenth anniversary replication of Paris competition.
*
New York Wine Tasting of 1973*
San Diego Wine Tasting of 1975 *
Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981 Fifth anniversary replication of Paris competition.
*
Grand European Jury Wine Tasting of 1997*
Halekulani Wine Tasting of 2000*
Berlin Wine Tasting of 2004 *
Ottawa Wine Tasting of 2005 *
St. Catharines Wine Tasting of 2005*
The Wine Rematch of the Century 30th anniversary replication of the Paris competition.
*
Blind tasting of wine*
Globalization of wine*
California Wine*
French wine*
Bordeaux wine*Taber, George M.
Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Scribner, 2005.
