Judgement + 50 – a Historic Tasting Event

Fifty years ago, the wine world was rocked by a blind tasting held in Paris, during which unknown Napa Valley wines outscored top French wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy. The resulting media explosion catalysed wine production into the global industry that it is today.

The story has been memorialized in the book Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine by George M. Taber, and the 2008 movie Bottle Shock, starring Alan Rickman and Chris Pine.

The IWFS is celebrating the 50th anniversary of this “Judgement of Paris” by organising an international blind wine tasting which pits French classics against challengers from around the world. No other wine society in the world will be able to organize such an event on a global scale.

Hundreds of participants will be taking part. Who wins – France or somewhere else? You decide!

Our Event

Like 50 years ago, IWFS’s Judgement + 50 will taste two flights of wine – Chardonnays and Bordeaux Blends. To reflect today’s broad wine world, we will expand beyond a California vs France head-to-head tasting to include entries from France, North and South America, South Africa and Oceania.

IWFS Capital Branch and London Branch are jointly holding a tasting event at the Army and Navy Club in London. We are coordinating with other branches around the world in a series of local/regional tasting events during the week leading up to and including Saturday 23rd May.

Locations will include

London UK
Manchester UK
Leeds UK
Bristol UK
Singapore
New South Wales
California

The results will be collated and tabulated for media announcements on Sunday 24th May.

The Wines

All locations will be blind tasting the same bottles of wine and scoring on a common basis.   They were chosen in close consultation with members of the IWFS Wine Committee. Indicatively, they are as follows :

Chardonnay

France – Domaine Leflaive, Macon Verze, 2022
France – Louis Jadot, Puligny Montrachet 2022
USA – Château Montelan Chardonnay 2022
New Zealand – Kumeu River, Coddington 2024
South America – Concha y Toro, Amelia 2023
South Africa – Restless River, Ava Marie Chardonnay 2020

Bordeaux Blends

France – Château Langoa Barton (St Julien) 2018
France – Domaine de Chevalier (Pessac Leognan) 2017
USA – Shafer Vineyards TD-9 (Napa Valley) 2019
Australia – Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) 2021
Argentina – Nicolas Catena Zapata (Mendoza, Argentina) 2020
South Africa – Kanonkop, Paul Sauer (Stellenbosch) 2019

As usual, there will be a cold buffet to accompany the tasting.  Please do join us and contribute your assessments to this historic event.

Mobility rating: 3 – steps up to the front door, then lift access.
Nearest tube: Green Park
Dress: Smart casual
Organiser: Alan Shepherd
Tel 01784 774445  E-mail: bookings@iwfs.london