Forty years ago a blind tasting changed the wine world forever, inspiring oenophile and future founder of Classic FM Sir Peter Michael to buy himself a vineyard. Fiona Adams investigates
Gary Myatt's painting of the Judgement of Paris tastings
Back in 1976, when I was the tender age of eight, there was an event of such magnitude that the world was never quite the same. No, not the fondly remembered ‘long, hot summer’, but a convocation of wine experts charged with determining an apparently one-sided contest between classic French wines and their New World cousins from California.
Dubbed the Judgment of Paris – an echo of the classical myth in which Paris, son of Priam, judged between the Greek goddesses Aphrodite, Athena and Hera, thus triggering the Trojan War – the May 24 showdown in the French capital was organized by British wine merchant Steven Spurrier. In the French corner: top-notch Bordeaux (red) and Burgundies (white). For the land of the free: six Cabernet Sauvignons (red) and California Chardonnays (white).
In the four decades since the blind tasting event, Californian wine has become a common feature of our dining tables. But in 1976, France was considered the producer without compare, and the result of the contest seemed a foregone conclusion. Even Spurrier, who sold only French wine (mostly to rich Americans) in his Paris shop Caves de la Madeleine, was convinced that La belle France would romp it.
Sir Peter Michael
Not everyone, however, was so sure. Enter Sir Peter Michael, a Croydon-born entrepreneur and pioneer of digital technology who would later found Classic FM. With his burgeoning interest in wine, he had already discovered the Californian pretenders for himself and was intrigued by Spurrier’s challenge.
“I was spending a lot of time in California in the early 1970s and I liked it. I wanted a patch of it long term and I was already interested in American wines,” he explains. The Judgment of Paris tastings involved a panel of nine French experts, plus Spurrier himself and the American Patricia Gallagher of l’Academie du Vin. The judges were asked to grade the wines out of 20, with the overall score for each wine determined by averaging the sum of the judges’ individual grades (excluding those of the two non-French experts).
The result was a sensation. American wines topped both red and white polls, sending shock waves around the world. In fact, so outraged was Odette Kahn, Editor of La Revue du vin de France, that she asked for her ballot paper to be returned. The controversy even spawned a film – Bottle Shock, starring Alan Rickman – and a number of books.
“When the result came out, when Time magazine published its article about it, the story spread across the States in microseconds,” recalls Sir Peter. “It was huge, huge news.”
The past 40 years have seen numerous reruns of the Judgment, but none to recapture the bombshell effect of the original. For Sir Peter, the event helped to trigger the search for a Californian winery of his own – a decision cemented by a night out listening to a legend.
“In 1976 I was living in Silicon Valley and had fallen a little bit in love with singer Peggy Lee, but I’d never seen her in the flesh. One night she was performing at the Fairmont Hotel, so I took some dinner guests there. I ordered a bottle of Burgundy, and when it came it was rotten. I asked the waiter what the locals drank and he brought me a bottle of Château Montelena. It knocked my socks off. That was when I knew that I had to find somewhere to make my own wine.”
So, in 1982, Sir Peter bought 605 acres of volcanic ridge on the western face of Mount St Helena, in Knights Valley, and set about creating his vineyard. The first vintage from the Peter Michael Winery arrived in 1987, since when the wines – all of which, ironically, have French names – have received a steady stream of plaudits. Today Sir Peter spends about three months a year in California, but lives mainly in Berkshire.
The Vineyard Hotel
It was there, at Stockcross, near Newbury, that he acquired The Vineyard, a hotel famed for both its food and its wine. Here the cellar walls are lined with more than 30,000 bottles – the most expensive a double magnum of 1982 Chateau Pétrus, for purchase at £20,000 – while 100 wines are available by the glass. The restaurant features both tasting menus and à la carte.
From the moment one crosses the threshold, Sir Peter’s fascination with the Judgment of Paris is clear. Adorning the wall of the foyer bar is a magnificent oil painting of the occasion by Gary Myatt, reminiscent in style of da Vinci’s The Last Supper. The hotel’s owner has been cheekily painted into the left-hand side of the scene, raising a glass to the illustrious judges who are musing and arguing over the wines and the results.
The service is superb – staff seem to pop out of nowhere – but the big draw is the chance to take a Judgment of Paris tasting challenge for yourself. An epicurean experience to stretch the taste buds and make you question all the things you thought you knew about wine.
As The Vineyard’s own literature explains, guests are invited to: “Eat. Sleep. And drink wine.” Which they surely do. At checkout, each departing soul is offered a bottle of water “for the journey”. Ahem.
So will Sir Peter be marking the 40th anniversary of the Judgment?
“Yes, is the answer to that! Both in California and at The Vineyard,” he says emphatically. “Steven Spurrier is a friend and has joined us at both places in the past. Not everyone is still around, as it all happened a long time ago, but I’ll invite those who are!”
And if he could choose any wine for his own last supper?
“Les Pavots 2001. In my view, it was truly great.”
One of his own, in fact. And not a Burgundy in sight.
Wine tasting at the Vineyard
Thirsting for more food and drink stories? Why not have a little look at our interview with restaurant provocateur, master chef judge and occasional Jazz musician Jay Rayner
