No, not referring to “The Rapture,” nor am I referring to The Governator’s Hollywood glory days; I’m talking about the famous day in Paris, 35 years ago today, when a few “kids from the sticks” beat the French at their own game. A tasting set up by Steven Spurrier, in Paris at the Intercontinental Hotel, made history when George Taber, a journalist for Time Magazine, documented this tasting. A group of judges, all French, and in esteemed professions in the food and wine industry, blindly picked the 1973 Chardonnay over the pack, including some top flight white Burgundies.
Not saying the French don’t make good wines. On the contrary, they are truly world class. What I am saying, and what this tasting showed, was that they’re not the only ones anymore!
Join me in a toast tonight, as we honor an important milestone in American history, with a glass of Chardonnay; and make it California…
- Jim Barrett and George Taber – 35 Years Later at Montelena’s Movable Feast
