Chateau Montelena Winery: Beyond Bottle Shock (VIDEO)
Historic Wineries of California
In 2008, the movie Bottle Shock made Chateau Montelena a household name, but it was in 1976 when the kings of Calistoga really got their claim to fame, winning The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, an event that rocked the wine world!
In this video, Wine Oh TV’s Monique Soltani heads to Chateau Montelena Winery and finds out how a couple of kids from the sticks turned the wine world upside down.
The Judgment of Paris
The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 or the Judgment of Paris was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines (Bordeaux wines from France and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California). A California wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world’s best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win. Four white Burgundies were tasted against six California Chardonnays. When the scores were tallied, the French Judges were convinced that the top-ranking white wine was one of their own. In fact, it was Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Chardonnay, rated above all other wines. The results proved that Chateau Montelena could produce some of the world’s finest wines, and giving birth to the California’s wine industry we now know today.
Bo Barrett
“The most important thing in winemaking is balance; from the technical aspect it is the strength of the triangle: balance of art, farming and science to make consistently great wines.”
Click Here for a list of upcoming Chateau Montelena Winery events across the country!
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POST TAGS: , 1976, Bo Barrett, Bottle Shock, California Wine, Calistoga, Chateau Montelena, French Wine, Historic Wineries of California, Inter-Continental Hotel in Paris, Judgment of Paris, Napa Valley, Wine Information, wine news, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting
May 14th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
[…] the interview here: wineoh.tv/chateau-montelena-winery-beyond-bottle-shock By Monique SoltaniMonique is the Founder and Host of Wine Oh TV and has a certification from the […]
February 8th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
[…] Watch the interview with winemaker Cameron Parry here: http://wineoh.tv/chateau-montelena-winery-beyond-bottle-shock […]
July 7th, 2014 at 1:53 pm
[…] Sauvignon from Napa’s Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, and a 1973 Chardonnay from Rutherford’s Chateau Montelena have officially taken their place in American history along side Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit […]