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California in pole position yet again
October 24, 2006
By Jane Anson
Californian wines have once again beaten their French counterparts in a blind tasting – judged this time by a group set up expressly to challenge the 'Americanisation' of taste.
The Grand Jury European is a collective of international wine experts with comprehensive - and lofty - ideals. Its founder Francois Mauss had an epiphany when he saw Parker scores in a Paris wine shop and vowed to start a European tasting panel that 'would have power over what Europeans buy'.
Its latest tasting – the Judgement of Sauternes – aimed to right the wrongs of Steven Spurrier's recent Re-Judgment of Paris.
Chairman Francois Mauss declared he was unhappy with Spurrier's celebratory recreation of the Judgement of Paris tasting in May this year, claiming dual locations and an unfair selection of vintages and tasters discredited the results.
At this month's tasting all wines were from the 1995 vintage, which Mauss told decanter.com, was 'an excellent one for California, and a very good one for Bordeaux – chosen to be fair to both, but so we can't be accused of being biased towards Bordeaux'.
In a tasting that cost US$20,000 to put together, Mauss gathered experts from all over the world, including France, the US, Italy, Spain and the UK. Jurors included regular GJE members such as Neil Beckett and Olivier Poussier, and visiting 'big beasts' such as Jeff Leve, a colleague of Robert Parker.
Of the top five chateaux, the first three were Californians. The winner was Abreu followed by Beringer and Pahlmeyer. Of the Bordeaux wines, Valandraud came in at number four, just ahead of Chateau Latour.
Even more surprisingly, when results were separated into scores awarded only by the usual GJE jury, 8 Californians wines came in the top 10.
Xavier Planty of Chateau Guiraud, where the tasting was held, had one theory as to why California won yet again: 'When tasting wines from your own area, the critical part of your brain is switched on, when tasting from another area, the pleasure part is switched on.'
RESULTS IN FULL
(All 1995 Vintage)
1 Abreu (Madrona Ranch)
1 Beringer Private Reserve
3 Pahlmeyer Propriatory Red
3 Valandraud
5 Latour
5 Shafer Hillside Select
7 Arrowood Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve
7 Ausone
9 Leoville Les Cases
9 Phelps Insignia
11 Mouton Rothschild
12 Mondavi Reserve
13 Cheval Blanc*
13 Palmer
15 Staglin Family Vineyard Cabernet
16 Trotonoy
17 Araujo
18 La Jota Anniversary Reserve
18 Le Bon Pasteur
20 Pride Reserve
21 Haut Condissas
22 Spring Mountain
23 Petrus
23 Rollan de By
25 Chateau Montelena
26 Lafite Rothschild
27 Monte Bello Ridge
28 Cheval Blanc*
29 Dominus
30 Colgin
31 Margaux
32 Spotteswoode
33 Le Tertre Roteboeuf
34 Haut Brion
35 La Mission Haut Brion
36 Croix de Labrie
37 Screaming Eagle
38 Harlan Estate
39 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill
- = Two bottles of Cheval-Blanc were served to '"study" the tasters' sensibility.'
Have your say...
To post your comment on this story, email us at news@decanter.com, making sure the relevant headline is in the subject field
 The style of Californian wines (and of some modern bordeaux, admittedly) means that they are more or less destined to show well in blind tastings, and more classically designed wines are doomed to comparative insignificance. So a mass blind tasting is inevitably going to produce this sort of result, however skilled and balanced the tasters. The results will such be that some people will 'know' them to be 'wrong' - knowing this, that is, on the basis of actually properly knowing and understanding the wines through having drunk them at a leisurely pace, as opposed to the sniff and the swirl about the mouth that is mostly what is possible in a tasting like this, when there is also tannin build-up on the palate, for example, and distinctions become harder to make especially when it comes to the subtler virtues. Francois Mauss should take a more critical look at the methodology he is using if he wants results that reflect the glories of more traditionally-styled wines. Large panel tastings nearly always get things at least partially wrong - as wine competitions are continually proving. Tim James, Cape Town, South Africa
Oh dear ... sounds like Xavier forgot to switch any part of his brain on when he made that comment. MV, Sydney, Australia
From now on, there will be tastings trying to demostrate that French wines are superior. French producers will never accept that wine lovers all over the world enjoy today something different than what they offer.
In the Decanter article we are dealing with, M. Palnty, of Chateau Guiraud, defines this arrogant French position, stating : 'When tasting wines from your own area, the critical part of your brain is switched on, when tasting from another area, the pleasure part is switched on'. Whithout realising it, he expalins the reason with the exact word: pleasure. And that is what the wine lover is looking for. Nobody drinks wine 'with the critical part switched on'. Ricardo Santos, Mendoza, Argentina
Xavier Planty's comment begs the question, looks like a weak excuse and questions the professionalism of the tasters. It appears that most of the tasters were not from Bordeaux or California (experts from all over the world, including France, the US, Italy, Spain and the UK). More enlightening would be a publication of the tasting criteria, the tasters' notes (without identification other than the taster's nationality perhaps) and the ranking of wines broken down by taster's nationality. Mark Miller
It's damn absurd that the supposed Professional Wine Community has put so much energy and emphasis on such a dichotic tasting comparison. If there's one thing I've learned as not only a professional in the industry, but one who entered the industry out of sheer passion, is that one should enjoy or respect wines from different areas for what they are – EXACTLY THAT; they will never be the same, nor should they be thought of in the same vein, and therefore should not be looked at as to which is 'best' or 'better'. These comparisons are fruitless (excuse the pun).
I'd like to know how many of these “judges” have devoted their lives to the studies of enology and viticulture. I'd venture to think that most don't study or review the World of Wine daily (or weekly for that matter) and therefore are way too biased or one-sided to approach, again, such a respectable dichotomy as Cali Cabs or 'Bordeaux Blends' and Left Bank Bordeaux. There's an obvious lack of respect for the 'night and day' styles from these two areas, being that such 'best of…' tastings are even being held. And I'd really hate to see any of the people retort that “it's all in good fun.” If it were, they wouldn't allow it to become such media frenzy…
Scott Cameron, Austin, USA
I'm surprised no one has commented on the ranking of the two bottles of Cheval Blanc -- one at #13 and the other at #28. Unless there was considerable bottle variation, I can only conclude that all the wines ranked from 13 to 28 were essentially equal (and possibly the rest of the tasting, too), or the tasters -- regardless of their supposed expertise -- weren't very competent on that particular day. In any event, how can the difference between #1 and #10 be significant, if the is absolutely no difference between #13 and #28.
I guess, there is one other possibility - palate fatigue. It would be interesting to know the order the wines were tasted in, and also the criteria used for judging (for instance, was the basis solely current enjoyment, or was cellar worthiness considered?). Paul G Russel
It is fascinating to read these comments which are going far away from what was discussed by all Tasters (to those interested, please read in details the report available at: grandjuryeuropeen.com).
Don't we have the right to say simply that both regions are making remarkable wines?
Don't we have the right to simply say that in vintage 95, at this moment, California wines were - in average - better than the bordeaux wines?
Don't we have the right to simply think that next year, with vintage 96, it may be different?
Do we have to feel guilty somewhere? A real wine geek must get over this stupid 'nationalism' spirit and mentality, no? Yes, Abreu was exceptional, like
Beringer.
Yes, the 2 bottles of Cheval Blanc were quite different and, more a wine goes in time, bigger may be the difference between bottles cellared in different
place, in different conditions ? Is it so hard to understand that?
And, instead of joking on Mr Planty comment, we think it is a good start for a discussion, but maybe, this is too much to ask.
François Mauss, Président-Fondateur, Grand Jury Européen
I sure hope this Bordeaux hate mob continues to gather steam. In the face of the bullet riddled dollar, rodent like population growth and the global desire for status. It seems the only hope I have if I want to continue drinking these obviously inferior wines. Next year, please, let's do Burgundy. Talk about an easy target. The tasting could read ten dollar jugs of California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, upsets Burgundies greatest crus. P.S. Coke never talks about Pepsi. Stetson Robbins, Long Beach, USA
Is it worth noting that the cult-iest of the wines, Screaming Eagle and Harlan, fell to dead last? They command prices that make the Beringer seem like an incredible bargain. I agree with the sentiments of most of the previous respondents-- none are really in conflict-- and got a good chuckle out of Mr. Stetson Roberts. We need repeated trashing of Gran Cru -- the only hope of being able to afford drinking them!
I do, however, disagree with Mr. Cameron's suggestion that the jury should be composed of trained enologists or viticulturists. We really have no business deciding what is good, rather take what the site offers and make it as good as it can be. Let the connoisseurs critically evaluate aesthetics, and leave the tradespeople to delivering the best from their respective terroirs. Let's not forget that style is informed by terroir-- no use trying to make a Bordeaux from Napa, though considerable effort and capital have been thus directed. (Opus?) Shouldn't we be discussing Cult versus Classic? Legitimate typicity versus manipulation? To Msr Mauss's point, this is an opportunity to further the discussion of wine appreciation and enjoyment. To what extent is this a consideration beyond geographies? Viva La Differcia! R. Schrieve, St. Helena, California, USA
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