Two new movies about the 1976 Paris tasting which Hollywood will not let the French forget. No doubt encouraged by the sleeper success of Sideways these new movies will probably not receive the same critical acclaim – judging by this article in the Toronto Globe and Mail by Beppi Crosariol.
Wine connoisseurs - I call them cons
BEPPI CROSARIOL
bcrosariol@globeandmail.comJuly 23, 2008
It was the taste-off that turned wine upside down.
In 1976, an esteemed all-French jury gathered in Paris for a blind tasting to compare eight of France’s greatest wines against a dozen upstarts from California. In an upset worthy of Hollywood, the United States trounced France, winning top honours in both the red and white categories.
Now, Hollywood has finally found its way to the story. Not one but two films based on the so-called Judgment of Paris will duke it out for attention this year. Bottle Shock, a rollicking comedy-drama based on true events that stars Alan Rickman, opens in Toronto on Aug. 6 and is slated to roll out to theatres across the country later in the summer. The second film, Judgment of Paris, based on the official story by the only journalist to attend the Paris tasting, Time magazine’s George Taber, is due later this year.
The event’s significance has predictably been interpreted the same way ever since: California had vaulted its way into the wine stratosphere. True. But if there’s justice, the films will also be a reminder - in these boom times for wine snobbery - of a message far more overdue…..
Ending with…
……Ironically, Bottle Shock perpetuates that superhuman-taster myth even as the factual part of the story undermines it. In one pivotal, fictional scene, Gustavo, a Mexican-American cellar hand employed by Chateau Montelena, wows a crowded Napa barroom by identifying the legendary 1947 Cheval Blanc, a red Bordeaux, in an impromptu brown-bag challenge.
So, let me get this straight: A spunky American kid can nail the nuances of great French terroir in a blind tasting when an esteemed panel of seasoned European experts can’t?
Apparently, 32 years after French arrogance got its comeuppance in the Judgment of Paris, wine jingoism is alive and well and living in America.
My wine group got together this week for a Chateauneuf du Pape tasting. Eleven people, eight wines, and more than enough cheese made for a wonderful night at my house. Just like with our last Piedmont tasting, it was really interesting to be able to taste all of these wines from outside of California side by side. 
Twelve miles east of Lafond Vineyards in Los Olivos, Joughin Vineyard proved the perfect spot for this varietal, named after the Primitivo vines grown in the Pulgia region of Italy, and now known to be genetically identical to Zinfandel. This sultry wine represents the region’s warmer climate with a fruit-forward nose, plump brambleberry and spicy black pepper overtones. The 2005 vintage offer high yields and extended barrel time (16 months) in French/American oak added to the wine’s pronounced length and density. A definite date with Mr. Lambshank, this wine also pairs well with Italian foods such as Tuscan beef and linguine marinara and a wide range of cheeses. $23.00/750 ml.
This Southern Rhone varietal from Lafond Vineyards in the Sta. Hills AVA is ready for its close up. Long known as a blending grape, its low yields of the 2005 vintage (5 tons from 2 acres) produced a plump, meaty wine with bright acidity and smoky bacon and spicy oak overtones. Planted in the warmest swath of Lafond’s cool-climate vineyard, McGuire believes this grape has great potential as a stand-alone vintage best served with pizza, spicy Indian or Thai or a thick rib eye on the barbeque. $22.00/750ml
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