Being a true Francophile and believer that the French produce the very best sparkling wines, Champagne and Rosé, I also think that the wines coming out of Bordeaux are quite wonderful. With that said however, I do know and believe that Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley and the sub-applleations found within are quite incredible and can hold their own against the French. The Judgements of Paris in 1976 solidified this idea and the second Jugement of Paris held 30 years later cemented it.
Champion of French wine, transplanted British wine merchant owning and operating the Cave de la Madeleine wine shop – 
one of the best in Paris, and the Academic du Vin – a wine school whose six-week courses were attended by the French Restaurant Association’s chefs and sommeliers, Steven Spurrier was the master mind who organized the first double blind tasting in 1976 that changed the reputation of California wines to the world forever.
Being just introduced to Cabernets and Chardonnays from California, Spurrier was curious and wondered how they would compare to their French counterparts – the white Burgundies and the reds from Bordeaux. The tasting coincided with the American Bicentennial and offered not only an opportunity to showcase the happenings of American wine making but also was a brilliant marketing tactic helping drive traffic to his shop and school.
On May 24, 1976 the something unthinkable occurred. Both of the Californian wines – the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V, Cabernet Sauvignon and the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay were judged the best over the famous French Chateaus by the highly credentialed, most prominent French wine experts.
Fast forward thirty years – May 24, 2006, a Re-Judgment of Paris resulted in a California Landslide. Most of the original red wines were tasted blind, not double blind as before because awareness was already known.
Judges from both sides of the Atlantic – in California and London – evaluated flights of both the French and the American wines from the original producers, though not blind and not together. The winners were -1971 Ridge Monte Bello (#1), 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (#2), 1970 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard and 1971 Mayacamas (tying for #3), and 1974 Clos du Val (#4).
My fascination with France and living less than two hours from the Napa Valley coupled with my love of wine was the catalyst that ignited me to sign up for a GEO 03 W The Geology and Wines of California and France through Stanford Continuing Studies at Stanford University.
Designed for wine enthusiasts, the course focused on the geological locations of the regions coupled with the connection between the wines and their terroir – how a particular region’s climate, soils and aspect (terrain) affect the taste of wine. The course was structured around the wines that were tasted concluding with the Bordeaux Blends – the Merlot based from the right bank and the Cabernet based from the left.
The six-week course was developed and taught by two colleagues – David Howell and Douglas Posson. The delightful pair met many years ago during their tenure at the US Geological Survey. Early on they discovered they both had a passion for wine, especially those from France.
Creator and owner of Hexagonvins and wine enthusiast, Possen has been exploring France’s diverse wine regions, the geology and terroir, meeting winemakers making friends, enjoying the food and tasting/drinking through the villages and vintages annually for more than thirty years. Co-author of the Winemaker’s Dance: Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley, Howell has been leading field trips to Napa and other wine regions for scientific meetings since the early 2000s. During that time he also started teaching The Geology and Wines of California and France at Stanford.
Eventually David and Douglas married their expertise and their passion creating a Wine & Geology Tour company that provides unique, educational wine experiences in France to small groups. This accidental meeting grew not only into a long-time friendship but also a career. It is another example of a passion becoming a profession. Remember my Favorite Things – P post about Stephen Marsh at Pinkster?
Originally, my plan was to compare a Domain de Chevalier flight
1995 Domain de Chevalier
with corresponding years from one of my favorite Anthony Bell creations – Clone 6 Cabernet Sauvignon made from single-vineyard grapes grown in the Baritelle Vineyard from the Rutherford appellation in Napa Valley California.
Three days before the tasting, I realized that this would not be an accurate assessment because the Clone 6 from Bell Wine Cellars is comprised solely of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The more apropos Bell wine for this experiment would have been another Bell favorite – the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve which is their Bordeaux style blend.
My realization came too late and there was not ample time to get wines from Bell Wine Cellars, resulting in substitutions from wines that I did have in my cellar, including a 2015 Bell Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. Following are the wines that were compared and contrasted with the corresponding years of Domaine De Chevalier.
With 60’s French Pop music playing in the background, the Sunday afternoon tasting commenced with comparing and contrasting the four Domain de Chevaliers, followed by the Silver Oak, the Minor Oracles, and the Bell Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. The next step was to taste the French and Californian wines by year side-by-side, concluding with the introduction of food.
Meat dishes, assorted cheese, and mushroom soup were prepared, and chocolates were carefully selected pairing with specific years. After sampling the initial food parings with the selected wines, the group tasted the foods with all the other wines and found that though the initial parings were good, ultimately there were better choices. The results are in the chart below.
Discussions on color, aroma, and taste ensued as we all tried to ascertain the correct descriptors for each of the wines. There were adjectives that were very similar to all and there were very individualized adjectives as well as we all have different levels of wine knowledge, experience, pallets and perceptions.
The Domain de Chevalier was certainly appreciated and enjoyed, however, the conclusion after over five and one half hours of tasting was the Californian wines won Le Tour de Napa Vallée et Bordeaux.
The notes and results of all the wines that were tasted are included in the chart and interesting points following:
Both of the corks from the 1995 wines did not make it out in their entirety, the half that came out crumbled into extremely dry sawdust-like flakes. The remaining cork had to be pushed into the wine and the wine needed to be filtered during the decanting process.
All eight wines were decanted at least 1.5 hours before the tasting began. It is my opinion that all of them could have been opened even earlier – especially the 1995s which opened beautifully after 5+hours. Overall, the French seemed to open more in comparison to the Californians.
The California wines seemed to age better than the French, especially the older, the 1995 and the 2004.
The Californian wines were more alcoholic which was very pronounced (14.2% – 14.9%), the French wines were lower (12% – 13.5% ). A surprise to us all.
The French wines were much better when paired with food resulting in a new appreciation and desire for further exploration post experiment.
The grapes from all of the wines came from different single vineyards, the exception being the Bell which was made from grapes from seven AVAs in the Napa Valley.
Le Tour de Napa Vallée et Bordeaux was the project that I selected for my class and was my reenactment of The Judgement of Paris. This reenactment however was between the California Cabernet/Bourdeaux style blends that I am familiar with, and the red wines coming from Bordeaux that I want to understand and know more about, seemingly similar to French wine champion Steven Spurrier and his desire to know more about Californian wines.
Spurrier’s brainchild, The Judgement of Paris not only shocked the world but also debutanted Californian wines, opening new doors, and changing the course of history. The re-enactment 30 years later with the Califronia landslide was again shocking to the world, though not me. Both conclusions only solidify what I have been saying for years – Californian Cabernet Sauvignon/Bordeaux style blends can hold and will continue to hold their own against their French counterparts.
Even though the Californian wines won on February 19th in San Jose, California, the experiment was a winner in its entirety. It fueled my desire to continue learning about, understanding more, and experimenting with these French beauties. Exploring further both wines from Napa Valley and Bordeaux provides a diverse range of enjoyment and appreciation, and an opportunity to find a new favorite unknown.
Ernest Hemingway sums it up nicely in a passage From Death in the Afternoon.
Wine is one of civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.
Ásante et Á bientôt,
xo Sandrella
Featured wine glass image and man drinking wine are from Ikon Images. They have a huge selection of unique, cool images. Check out all that they have to offer by clicking on their logo.
Picture of the Judgement of Paris winners is from Brad Bollinger – Business Journal Publisher Postof April 27, 2016 post. The other photos are by xo Sandrella.
Wow you all look beautiful and happy ????
Great experiment, with lots to be learned! Between when to open, what to pair, and which glasses, you certainly should hold many more such experiments. Great blog!!
Loved this deep foray into wine! Your attention to detail, so evident in your notes, makes us very happy. It led us to recollections of our Bordeaux trip – many smiles. We’re thinking of cruising the Rhône again; the food/wine pairing are spectacular. Let’s chat!
X, Sandra and Anthony