Judgment of Paris (wine)

The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 — known as the Judgment of Paris — was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines (Bordeaux wines from France and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California). A Californian wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win.

The event's informal name "Judgment of Paris" is an allusion to the ancient Greek myth.

Red wines

White wines

The eleven judges were (in alphabetical order):

Blind tasting was performed and the judges were asked to grade each wine out of 20 points. No specific grading framework was given, leaving the judges free to grade according to their own criteria.

Rankings of the wines preferred by individual judges were done based on the grades they individually attributed.

An overall ranking of the wines preferred by the jury was also established in averaging the sum of each judge's individual grades (arithmetic mean). However, grades of Patricia Gallagher and Steven Spurrier were not taken into account, thus counting only grades of French judges.

California Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Bordeaux. In alphabetical order of judges.

The original grades (out of 20 points) are shown.

Pierre Brejoux Original grades: out of 20 points.

Claude Dubois-Millot Original grades: out of 20 points.

Michel Dovaz Original grades: out of 20 points.

Patricia Gallagher Original grades: out of 20 points.

Odette Kahn Original grades: out of 20 points.

Raymond Oliver Original grades: out of 20 points.

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