Grand European Jury Wine Tasting of 1997

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In the Grand European Jury Wine Tasting of 1997, the Grand Jury Européenne, consisting entirely of European judges, conducted a blind tasting of 27 Chardonnays from seven countries. Held in Bordeaux , 70 percent of the entries in the wine competition were from France (Burgundy). All other countries were represented with one entry each, except for Australia, which had two.

The French wine entries were "a regular Hall of White Burgundy Fame. They had such great vineyards and outstanding producers as Meursault Charmes from Domaine Comtes Lafron and Meursault Perreres from Domaine Coche-Dury." In addition, "Various hyphenated grand cru Montrachets showed up: two Chevalier-Montrachets, one from Bouchard Pere et Fils, the other from Louis Jadot. Other grandes crus included a Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet from Olivier Lefaive and two Corton-Charlemagnes (Louis Latour and Domaine Bonneau du Martray). As if this were not overkill enough, two Montrachets were present as well, from Marquis de Laguiche Joseph Drouhin and Domaine Jacques Prieur" (Kramer, p. 110).

In addition, there was Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes from Domaine Sauzet, Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive, and Chablis Grand Cru Valmur from that district’s most acclaimed producer, Domaine Francois Raveneau.

The judges tasted three vintages of each wine, a 1989, a 1992 and a 1994. At the end of the evaluation, the judges declared the top wine to be Robert Mondavi Chardonnay Reserve, a California wine. Rank number two was won by Domaine Comtes Lafron’s Mersault Charmes. Rank number 27 went to Chablis Grand Cru Valmur from Domaine Raveneau.

The organizer told Matt Kramer, who wrote an article about the event in Wine Spectator magazine, that he had later "put on the exact same tasting, with the exact same wines, in New York using American tasters. The results were almost identical" (Kramer, p. 111).

[edit] See also

In the wine competitions listed below (1) all tasting was performed blind and (2) all results were ranked in ordinal form -- strictly high to low -- within wine category with no multiple winners. They are listed here chronologically and briefly described.

New York Wine Tasting of 1973: Fourteen experts, including France’s Alexis Lichine, ranked 23 Chardonnays from France, California, and New York State. California Chardonnays received the top four scores.

San Diego Wine Tasting of 1975: Eight Bordeaux and two California wines were evaluated by 28 judges. Heitz Wine Cellars won first place with Château Latour and Château Mouton Rothschild tying for second place.

Paris Wine Tasting of 1976: Leading French wine experts selected both red and white California wines as superior to all their prestigious French competetors, thus destroying the myth of French wine superiority and revolutionizing the world of wine.

San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978: The same wines earlier evaluated in the Paris competition were again judged. On the first day, 98 judges awarded the top three ranks in the white wine category to California wines. On the second day, 99 judges awarded the highest rank for red wine to Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, which had earlier won first place in Paris. Second and third place ranks were won by other California reds, followed by Château Mouton Rothschild in fourth place.

Wine Olympics (1979): A French food and wine magazine organized a competition of 330 wines from 33 countries evaluated by 62 experts. A California wine was judged best Chardonnay in the world, California wines won six of the top ten ranks in the Cabernet-Merlot competition, and an Oregon wine won first place in the Pinot Noir competition.

Great Chardonnay Showdown (1980): A total of 221 Chardonnays from around the world were evaluated by 25 judges. The winning wine was Grgich Hills Wine Cellar.

Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981: In the Ottawa competition, experts evaluated 13 wines from France and California and awarded the top five ranks to California wines.

French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986: On the tenth anniversary of the Paris competition, eight judges evaluated nine of the ten red wines earlier ranked. The top two ranks were won by California wines, followed by Château Montrose, Château Leoville Las Cases, and Château Mouton Rothschild, in that order.

Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986: In a second tenth anniversary competition, six judges evaluated the same ten red wines earlier tasted in Paris. California wines won the top five ranks.

Halekulani Wine Tasting of 2000: Sixty experts evaluated 17 red wines and awarded the top two ranks to California wines, followed by Château Lafite-Rothschild.

Berlin Wine Tasting of 2004: Thirty-six European wine experts evaluated two vintages each of eight top wines from France, Italy, and Chile. The first and second-place wines were both from Chile.

Ottawa Wine Tasting of 2005: Eighteen wines (six each from Bordeaux, Ontario, and British Columbia) were evaluated by 35 expert tasters and monitored by an organization responsible for marketing French wine. First rank went to a British Columbia wine, second went to an Ontario wine, and third place went to a Bordeaux wine.

St. Catharines Wine Tasting of 2005: Four classified growth Bordeaux wines and 12 Ontario wines were judged by 50 wine tasters. The top five ranks were won by Ontario wines.

Tokyo Wine Tasting of 2006: Sixteen wines from France, Italy and Chile were blind tasted in a competition co-organized by Steven Spurrier. Chilean wines won four of the top five ranks, beating Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lafite-Rothschild.

The Wine Rematch of the Century: In a 30-year anniversary replication of the Paris competition conducted in 2006, California wines increased their rankings and won the first five ranks in the field of ten.