The Historic Judgment of Paris: A Momentous Wine Tasting That Changed the World

John Galt: I bought a signed copy.

George Taber, the author, was TIME Magazine's correspondent in Paris and just happened to attend the wine tasting. The tasting of the French and American wines was arranged by Stephen Spurrier who owned the first and at the time only wine school in Paris.

What was historical and world changing was that this wine tasting occurred in Paris, in France and the tasters were the creme de la creme of France's most famous wine experts. Well, everyone knows the American wines were voted best in both the white and red categories Perhaps, nothing would have happened, but Taber was there at the tasting, being invited by Mr. Spurrier. Taber wrote it up. It was reduced to two small paragraphs and it appeared in TIME magazine. Within days of the article, wine stores in the US were deluged with customers demanding the winning American wines.

After that the world of wine changed forever. Until then no one in the world ordered, bought or drank anything but French wine if they wanted what they thought were the best wines in the world. After that tasting everyone wanted American wines as well. Today when you go to a restaurant where there used to only...

United States on Mar 14, 2023

Estela Santos: Bem legal conhecer a história do famoso julgamento que mudou a perspectiva sobre os vinhos do novo mundo. Vale a pena.

Brazil on Jan 31, 2023

Hello You: This book takes a rather irrelevant event and turns it into the equivalent of the Third World War.
In typical American fashion, the conquest of France by the Yanks is presented in all its complex aromas and textures. Proud vintners, oenologists and hypocritical critics clash in the world's wine capital to decide the Heavyweight Wine Championship of the World.
There can only be one winner, in a Hollywood epic.

United Kingdom on Apr 01, 2018

Elaine: Bought two copies for friends as I had already read it and enjoyed it. A must for wine lovers. An historical event which took place 40 years ago so a true story.

United Kingdom on Jun 30, 2016

David B: Well, what a well written & entertaining book. It takes a while to get to the actual tasting but only because of the wonderful descriptions of the key players. For instance, just read, appreciate and admire Mike Grgich's journey from early days in Croatia right up to star winemaker. Determination, commitment, focus on excellence etc etc; no wonder the wines are so good!!

All in all, a wonderfully enlightening insight into a key event in the wine world and this, normally slow reader, finished it in under two days!!

United Kingdom on Jun 22, 2016

oxfoodblog: How much you enjoy Judgment of Paris depends a lot on what you want to get out of it. The book tells the story of a famous blind tasting in Paris of "California versus France", as well as giving a good history on California wine making and effects the tasting had on New World wine. It's well written, very readable, and surprisingly accessible for a book on wine- you don't need to have a good knowledge of wine to get a lot out of this book, and there is much to learn about the history of wine in California.

What it isn't, though, is a detailed analysis on the wines themselves and the reasons why some were rated higher than others. There are over 160 pages before you get to the wines that were actually included in the tasting- and even then, the stories about the people involved seem to take precedence over the wines and vineyards. There's also a pretty clear New World bias throughout- so if you like French wine, it can make for tough reading at points. Definitely a "popular wine" book.

Even if you did want a more technical read, this is still a fun book. There are some great romantic stories about how poor immigrants came to California with wine-making skills and work...

United Kingdom on Apr 25, 2012

Byron Sharp: Most wine books are for reference, being about a region or a producer, or a collection of tasting notes. This book tells a story, and it's the best such wine book I've ever read. Campbell Mattison's "Wine Hunter" is also a good book but "Judgment of Paris" is less sentimental, and much broader in scope.

I already knew about the 1976 tasting and had recently read the Decanter coverage of the rematch 20 years later. In spite of this I still found the book interesting.

I seldom drink Californian wine, little of the good stuff makes its way outside of the USA and it is usually far overpriced. But still I found the book interesting.

It's more than a book about the 1976 tasting and how it came about and what happened. It tells the story of the creation of many of the Californian vineyards, winemakers, and specific wines that ended up in the tasting. But the book is more than this. George Taber is a former Time staff writer (who was living in France in 1976 and was the only journalist at the tasting) and his global perspective shows. He covers the implications of the tasting for California and for all of the New World, and for France too.

So I recommend this...

United States on Dec 22, 2007