George M. Taber was the Time reporter who broke the story of the 1976 Paris tasting. He was the only reporter at this small but prestigious event. The wine tasting event was put together by Steve Spurrier, a British national who owned a wine store and wine school in Paris.
The event didn’t set out to prove that California wines were better than their French counterparts. His motivation for doing so was to show how far American wine making had progressed in the 200 years since they gained their independence from Britain. The idea behind the event was to have fun and show how American wines had improved. He picked six Californian reds and six Californian whites and four top French red Bordeaux’s and four top French white Burgundy’s.
The reason the event was news worthy is a Californian red and a Californian white took first place in a blind tasting.
The book starts off with Steve Spurrier, his life, his wine business and how he went about setting up the tasting. It steps away from Steve Spurrier and starts delving into some of the key people and wineries in California that were in the tasting or had a large influence on how the wine was made. Names like Grgich, Tchelistcheff, Martini, Mondavi, Stewart, Winiarski begin showing up in the book. Their backgrounds, their personalities and their wine making methods and styles are explored. The author does a great job of bringing some of these colourful individuals to life.
He also covers the history of California wine making. It was amazing to see how things have evolved since the fifties to today and how quickly it has changed.
The book returns to the tasting, covers the credentials of the French judges and then covers the tasting itself. Once the shocking results are reveled, how people reacted; the California winemakers’ jubilation to the fallout for the French judges and Steve Spurrier.
He talks about regions like New Zealand, Chile, Australia, South Africa that weren’t well know for wine or quality and how they began changing and adapting. How the wine making began to change and globalize. He re-visits both California and France present day and shows how things in both places have changed.
It was a fascinating read. I was amazed how many wines I have tried that were mentioned in the book. It also peak my curiosity in some wines that I hadn’t tried. I recently picked up a couple bottles and am looking very forward to trying them.
I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in wine.
The reason the event was news worthy is a Californian red and a Californian white took first place in a blind tasting.
The book starts off with Steve Spurrier, his life, his wine business and how he went about setting up the tasting. It steps away from Steve Spurrier and starts delving into some of the key people and wineries in California that were in the tasting or had a large influence on how the wine was made. Names like Grgich, Tchelistcheff, Martini, Mondavi, Stewart, Winiarski begin showing up in the book. Their backgrounds, their personalities and their wine making methods and styles are explored. The author does a great job of bringing some of these colourful individuals to life.
He also covers the history of California wine making. It was amazing to see how things have evolved since the fifties to today and how quickly it has changed.
The book returns to the tasting, covers the credentials of the French judges and then covers the tasting itself. Once the shocking results are reveled, how people reacted; the California winemakers’ jubilation to the fallout for the French judges and Steve Spurrier.
He talks about regions like New Zealand, Chile, Australia, South Africa that weren’t well know for wine or quality and how they began changing and adapting. How the wine making began to change and globalize. He re-visits both California and France present day and shows how things in both places have changed.
It was a fascinating read. I was amazed how many wines I have tried that were mentioned in the book. It also peak my curiosity in some wines that I hadn’t tried. I recently picked up a couple bottles and am looking very forward to trying them.
I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in wine.
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