Already legendary wine tasting that took place on the initiative of the English wine merchant and expert on French wines Steven Spurrier (1941-2021) on 24 May 1976 in Paris. Also known as the Judgment of Paris, the event is memorable for several reasons. Firstly, no expert had expected this surprising result; secondly, it resulted in worldwide discussions and significant repercussions in the international wine world; and thirdly, because the competition took place in four stages over a period of thirty years. The competition has been repeated three times so far with the original wines; the third and fourth only with the red wines. Finally, there was also a book about it, the US journalist George M. Taber published the approximately 350-page work "Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine" in 2006. And last but not least, this material was even made into a film in 2008 under the title "Bottle Shock" with the director Randall Miller; however, Spurrier was very dissatisfied with it due to what he considered to be partly fictitious details.
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Egon Mark
Diplom-Sommelier, Weinakademiker und Weinberater, Volders (Österreich)