On May 24, 1976, a memorable day in the wine industry, Steven Spurrier, an English wine merchant who owned an innovative wine shop and adjacent wine school in the center of Paris, held a blind wine tasting in celebration of the American Bicentennial activities in Paris. The tasters chosen for the event were French and had impeccable professional credentials. The French wines included in the tasting were first-growth and other classified-growth red Bordeaux and white Burgundies. They were matched against Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays from California. As it was a blind tasting, the identities of the wines were concealed and the labels revealed only after the jury of nine tasters had voted its order of preference.

To the judge’s dismay, Warren Winiarski's 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon (his first vintage produced with grapes from vines a mere three years old) was judged the best red, scoring ahead of four top-ranked Bordeaux wines (including first-growths Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion). The 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from California bested the white Burgundies in the line up.

A correspondent from TIME Magazine Paris was at the tasting and broke the news that immediately brought California wines to a new level.  The world was stunned to see that the judges had picked these new world wines above those made in a traditional style and in the Bordeaux terrior.  The impact of the tasting was accentuated by the fact that the judges were French, had very good reputations, and had been extremely condescending towards California wines. As they tasted, one of the judges said “Ah, back to France!” after sipping a 1972 Chardonnay from the Napa Valley.  While another said (after downing a Batard Montrachet ’73) “That is definitely California, it has no nose”.

The 1976 Paris tasting has been replicated several times, often with similar results. In 1986 there was a red wine tasting in New York. This time, a highly skilled panel of French and American judges selected Clos Du Val and Ridge, two California Cabernets, closely ahead of the French Montrose, Leoville and Mouton. In 1996, a tasting was held at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original event. At that time, bottles that had won the first-place in the original tasting (the 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay) were accepted into the Museum's collections.  To this day, the wines of Stags Leap Cellars, Chateau Montelena, and from all of Napa Valley, continue to draw admiration from all over the world. However, attention and respect became eminent after May 24, 1976. 

Last month, Chateau Cos d’Estournel (a highly regarded second-growth grower in Bordeaux) decided to make an investment in a California winery by purchasing Chateau Montelena.  The winery, currently producing 40,000 cases of wine and with the reputation of putting California wine at a world class level, was sold for approximately 140 million US dollars (the exact dollar amount has not yet been disclosed).  This sale follows a trend of other reputable wineries being sold to companies with European ties over the last two years.  Stags Leap Wine Cellars sold for 85 million US dollars while, Duckhorn Winery sold for 250 million US dollars last year. The weak dollar is helping Europeans better afford these purchases, while creating an outlet for wineries that want to sell. 

The wine industry has been going through a great deal of consolidation and globalization.  Some of the motivation leading wineries to sell may include: fragmented ownership; financially challenging market condition; lack of interest in the business by those who inherit the wineries, etc. It will be interesting to see how these business transactions shape the wineries, the Napa Valley and the future of our industry.  Stay tuned…