Fifty years ago, in a single afternoon in Paris, the wine world got turned upside down. A British wine merchant named Steven Spurrier pitched a handful of Californian wines against the best of France in a blind tasting. The French were humiliated \u2014 and the Americans took the gold in both reds and whites.<\/p>\n
Australia wasn’t invited.<\/p>\n
For the 50th anniversary, we spent $15,000 flying to California to ask the question we’ve never been able to answer: what if Spurrier had come south in ’76? What would the Aussie line-up have looked like? And how would it have gone?<\/p>\n
We asked Brian Croser, Andrew Caillard MW, and Max Allen \u2014 three of the most respected voices in Australian wine \u2014 to independently tell us which Aussie wines would’ve made the tasting. We tracked down the original Californian wines that beat France. And we sat them down in front of three completely independent palates: Rajat Parr, one of America’s most influential sommeliers; Peter Koff MW, the cult blind taster; and ourselves.<\/p>\n
This is what happened.<\/p>\n
Wines Tasted:<\/p>\n
1. 2023 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay
\n2. 2021 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay
\n3. 2023 Chalone Vineyards Chardonnay
\n4. 2023 Stag’s Leap Cellars SLV Cabernet Sauvignon
\n5. 2022 Mosswood Cabernet Sauvignon
\n6. 2018 Gustavo Cabernet Sauvignon
\n7. 2021 Penfold’s Grange<\/p>\n
\u2014
\nThe Australian Shortlist<\/p>\n
Brian Croser
\n1973 Tyrrell\u2019s Vat 47 Chardonnay
\n1973 Leo Buring Aged Riesling
\n1973 Tyrrell\u2019s Vat 1 Semillon
\n1975 Moss Wood Cabernet
\n1975 Penfold’s Grange
\n1975 Metala Cabernet Shiraz
\n1970 Eileen Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon
\n1969 Redman Cabernet Sauvignon
\n1972 Leasingham Bin 56 Cabernet Malbec<\/p>\n
Andrew Caillard MW
\n1971 Penfolds Grange.
\n1971 Penfolds St Henri Claret.
\n1975 Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
\n1974 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon (just)
\n1975 Stonyfell Metala Shiraz Cabernet
\n1973 Tyrrell\u2019s Vat 47 Chardonnay<\/p>\n
Max Allen
\n1973 Tyrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay
\n1976 Mount Mary Charonnay
\n1978 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay
\n1971 Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
\n1971 Redman Cabernet Sauvignon
\n1967 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon
\n1973 Balgownie Cabernet Sauvignon<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Massive thanks to Bo Barrett at Chateau Montelena \u2014 the man who was in the cellar in 1976. To Rajat Parr at Phelan Farm for tasting wines that weren’t his style and telling the truth about all of them. And to Peter Koff MW for blind-tasting with us on 45 minutes’ notice in his own home, on a weekend!<\/p>\n
Thanks to Penfolds, Chateau Montelena, Chalone Vineyards, Leeuwin Estate, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Mosswood, and Beaulieu Vineyard for opening their cellars (and their generosity).<\/p>\n
And to Brian Croser, Andrew Caillard MW, and Max Allen \u2014 for treating an Australian’s hypothetical question with the seriousness of three historians who’d clearly been thinking about it themselves.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
If you want the next round \u2014 current Aussie icons vs current Californian icons, no history, no nostalgia, just the wine \u2014 tell us in the comments which line-up you’d want to see. Most-requested wins. We’ll fly to America again. We’ll empty our bank accounts. We’ll knock on more strangers’ doors.<\/p>\n
#WineTasting #JudgementOfParis #BottleShock #AustralianWine #CaliforniaWine<\/p>\n
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