SR 115: | Digital Democracy

WHEREAS, California wine has been a rich part of the Golden States economy and culture for generations, with distinctive and unique attributes; and

WHEREAS, The states wines play an important role in Californias iconic lifestyle, inspired by boundless optimism and endless miles of natural beauty; and

WHEREAS, California has long been known for producing top-quality wines, encompassing more than 95 percent of the countrys wine exports; and

WHEREAS, One particular moment elevated California wine on the global stagethe Judgment of Paris in 1976; and

WHEREAS, By 1976, France had dominated the world of fine wine for centuries. Bordeaux and Burgundy were not merely respected, they were the unquestioned standard against which all other wines were measured. The idea that a wine from California could compete, let alone win, was considered almost absurd by serious wine professionals of the era; and

WHEREAS, On May 24, 1976, 11 of France's most respected wine judges gathered at the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris to evaluate two blind flights of wine: one of Chardonnays, one of Cabernet Sauvignons. The event became known as The Judgment of Paris and what happened next ended an era in which it was assumed that fine wine could only come from Europe; and

WHEREAS, This tasting was organized by Steven Spurrier, an Englishman running a wine shop and wine school in Paris, to celebrate the American Bicentennial. Spurrier was a wine merchant and owner of LAcademie du Vin, a wine education school in Paris. He knew he was taking some risk blind tasting French and American wines, but never expected what would happen next; and

WHEREAS, The idea originated with Patricia Gallagher, who worked alongside Spurrier at LAcademie du Vin. She had made the shop a destination for American wine enthusiasts passing through Paris, including respected critics, who would occasionally stop in with California bottles in hand. With the United States celebrating its 200th anniversary in 1976, Gallagher saw the bicentennial as a natural occasion to showcase American wines in a commemorative tasting. It was her initiative that set everything in motion; and

WHEREAS, Spurrier traveled to California in early 1976 to evaluate wines firsthand before making his selections, ultimately choosing lesser-known producers who were just beginning to establish themselves; and

WHEREAS, Getting the bottles to France required improvisation. Gallagher, a native Californian with family in Los Angeles, flew home to collect the wines. At the departure gate she discovered bottle limits on her luggage. In a now-legendary moment, she distributed the bottles among the bags of willing fellow passengers to get them to Paris. It was Gallagher, not the winemakers, who ensured the California wines arrived; and

WHEREAS, The flights included wines from the most prestigious appellations in France, white Burgundies and red Bordeaux, alongside a selection of bottles from Californias Napa Valley, included as comparative unknowns. The tasting included 12 wines total: six Chardonnays and six Cabernet Sauvignons, with four top Burgundies and four Bordeaux serving as anchors meant to demonstrate the benchmark quality of French wine. Spurrier did not inform any California producer that their wine would be judged in direct blind competition against the finest French chateaux and domaines. The California winemakers had no idea what was about to happen on their behalf; and

WHEREAS, The judges were among the finest palates in France. No one in the roomnot the organizer, not the judges, not the French wine establishmentexpected anything other than a French sweep. The California wines were, in the minds of most present, there to provide context for how good the French wines were; and

WHEREAS, The format was a rigorous blind tasting: bottles were concealed, labels hidden, and each wine scored on its merits alone. There was no way to favor a known producer or a familiar chateau. The results would speak entirely for themselves; and

WHEREAS, The producers selected for the tasting were, at the time, relatively obscure even within California. These wineries were early in their histories and their names meant little to the Parisian wine world in 1976; and

WHEREAS, When the scores were tallied, the room fell silent. California had not merely placed, it had won. American producers ranked first in both the white and red wine flights, a result that shocked the judges, stunned the organizer, and would reverberate through the wine world for decades; and

WHEREAS, The 1973 Chardonnay was crafted by Miljenko Mike Grgich, a Croatian-born winemaker who had trained in Burgundy and brought that precision to Napa Valley. His wine earned the highest score among all the Chardonnays, beating the finest white Burgundies blind; and

WHEREAS, The 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon was crafted by Warren Winiarski, a Chicago-born winemaker who studied western classics before pursuing his passion for winemaking in Europe and eventually establishing himself in Napa Valley. His wine took first place over storied Bordeaux chateaux the judges had expected to dominate with ease; and

WHEREAS, The French response was immediate and fierce. Judges denounced the results. The French wine press dismissed the outcome. Spurrier was blamed for disgracing top Burgundy and Bordeaux producers before an international audience and effectively became persona non grata in Parisian wine circles; and

WHEREAS, Odette Kahn, one of Frances most prominent wine writers, never spoke to Spurrier again, though she could not dispute the fairness and integrity with which the tasting had been conducted; and

WHEREAS, The French establishments final rebuttal was one of time: California wines would not age. Retaste them at 10, 20, or 30 years and France would prevail. It was a confident claimand it was tested; and

WHEREAS, In 2006, with 30 years of bottle age on the Cabernets, a transatlantic rematch was held. California wines won again, this time claiming the top five spots. The 1971 Cabernet Sauvignon placed first and was the consensus favorite, demolishing the aging argument entirely. These wines had not merely held up, they had flourished; and

WHEREAS, The Judgment of Paris brought worldwide attention to California wines that had previously been considered curiosities or outright inferiors in the world of fine wine. Overnight, Napa Valley had credibility on the global stage; and

WHEREAS, Cabernet Sauvignon plantings in Napa Valley expanded dramatically in the years that followedfrom an estimated 4,800 acres to over 24,000 acres today, as investors, winemakers, and landowners poured resources into the region with new confidence; and

WHEREAS, The ripple effects spread far beyond California. Growing regions from Walla Walla, Washington to Chiles Maipo Valley adopted Cabernet Sauvignon at an accelerating pace inspired by the proof that New World terroir could produce wines of the highest caliber. Every serious bottle from Stellenbosch, Mendoza, Margaret River, Willamette Valley, or Marlborough that commands critical and commercial respect today owes a debt to May 24, 1976, and to the accidental coalition that made it happen: a Californian woman with an idea and an Englishman willing to offend the most powerful wine establishment; and

WHEREAS, Consumers, sommeliers, and distributors who had reflexively deferred to European labels became far more open to wines from all over the world. The philosophical assumption that greatness in wine was Europes exclusive inheritance was permanently dismantled; and

WHEREAS, Even the outraged Philippe de Rothschild appeared to internalize the lesson quickly: by 1978, just two years after the tasting, he had joined Robert Mondavi in creating a prestigious Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that signaled unmistakably that California was now a serious partner, not a footnote; and

WHEREAS, New export markets and pricing power that had been impossible for American producers before 1976 became realistic. The competition paved the way for the modern American wine industry and for the global diversity of fine wine the world enjoys today; and

WHEREAS, The Judgment of Paris did not diminish French wine; Bordeaux and Burgundy remain among the worlds greatest. What it did was enlarge the conversation permanently, proving that the map of great wine was far larger than anyone in that Paris hotel room had been willing to believe; and

WHEREAS, Half a century later, the Judgment of Paris remains the single most consequential event in the history of the modern global wine industry. A tasting that lasted a few hours changed everything, not just for California, but for every wine region that dared to believe it could compete; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate hereby celebrates May 24, 2026, as the 50th Anniversary of the Judgment of Paris; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.