This month we, in California especially, will be inundated with reminders that 50 years ago this May a few pioneering California winemakers beat the French at their own game in a blind tasting that came to be known as the Judgement of Paris. The rise of California wine on the global stage began when French judges preferred California wines to their own Bordeauxs and Borgognes. California won, and the golden age of California wine followed for the next several decades. At least that’s been the doctrine for the last 50 years.
Let me suggest an alternative perspective on this historical event: The French won.
“But,” you’ll insist, “They didn’t! It’s a matter of historical record.”
It depends on which game we think was being played. If we think the game was, “Who makes a better Cabernet or Chardonnay?” Sure, California won that game. But was that really the most important game that was being played that day in 1976? I don’t think so.
I think the more important game being played 50 years ago was, “What is the global benchmark for fine wine?” It was a game the French couldn’t lose no matter what wines the judges picked. The French won the Judgment of Paris merely by agreeing to the tasting because it positioned California wines, and any other would-be wines of global importance, in the position of imitating French wines.
California only won at being the best imitators of French tastes in wine. But the French won the bigger prize. They showed that if you wanted to be taken seriously, you had to emulate them. You had to follow their lead. The Judgment of Paris created the dynamic that established the French as the arbiters and definers of taste in wine. They became the producers and directors of the game, and the rest of the world became mere players.
And so for 50 years California wine has not been Californian. It has mostly been French wine made in California. We even aged our Judgement of Paris-winning wines in imported French oak. Outside of Europe, nine varieties of grapes account for over 50% of the global wine vineyard area, and most of those grapes have French names. Most people in wine are so inculcated in this way of thinking that it’s probably hard for them to imagine a different kind of wine world. That’s how total the French victory was: We can’t imagine wine without French grapes.
California has essentially never even tried to develop its own wine culture… despite the fact that there are three species of grapes endemic to California. That’s three times as many species as the French have, but we never even tried to build our own wine varieties from them. Do you know any named wine grape varieties that have Vitis californica genetics?
A century before the Judgement of Paris, a wine made from America’s oldest wine grape, Norton, won the award for “best red wine of all nations” at the Vienna World’s Fair of 1873. Yes, an American wine made from an American hybrid grape won a tasting that compared it to the best wines from all over Europe. Why didn’t we celebrate the 150th anniversary of that victory three years ago?
While there’s a certain amount of pride to be taken in beating someone at their own game, it’s still their game. The greater pride comes from building your own game that represents your tastes, your culture, your grapes, and your ideas of what wine can be. Everywhere can do this, and will do this differently, leading to a diversity of amazing wine cultures around the world.
I think it’s time for another tasting. This time the rule is that your wine has to be your own, from your local grapes or other indigenous fruit. And I have a prediction of the outcome: We will all be winners.
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