In 1976 in Paris some of the world's most authoritative wine experts were asked to conduct a blind wine tasting, as part of the celebrations of the American bicentennial. The French pitted some of their most outstanding wines against some young Californian wineries from Napa Valley's Wine Country. The result was a foregone conclusion. It was just a bit of fun. Obviously French wines were the best in the world and nothing from California could match them.
That historical blind wine tasting took place on 24 May, 1976, at the InterContinental Hotel in Paris and the result startled the world of wine. The eleven wine experts, nine of them French, all gave top marks to the Californian wines over the prestigious French wine labels, which included Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. The finest French wines which had been made in Bordeaux and Burgundy for hundreds of years were considered inferior to these young American upstarts.
Now over thirty years later, boosted by the phenomenal success of the wine movie Sideways, Hollywood is getting in on the act. And in typical Hollywood fashion, there are two competing movies dealing with the same subject. You wait thirty years for one movie, and then two come along at the same time.
The man who had organised the historic blind wine tasting in Paris was a British wine merchant, Steven Spurrier. Spurrier's story was told by Time journalist George Taber in a book that came out in 2005: Judgement of Paris. Taber was also the only journalist present at the tasting, so it's natural that both he and Steven Spurrier regard their version of events as the official version. Names said to have been considered for roles in the film have included Hugh Grant, Jude Law, Keanu Reeves and George Clooney.
However, a rival wine movie has entered the race, telling the same story. Bottle Shock features British movie star Alan Rickman in the role of Steven Spurrier, which has upset the other production company. A spokesman for Bottle Shock, though, has said that no-one can own the exclusive rights to what was a historical event, and anyone is free to make a film of it. Alan Rickman was recently seen in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and other stars in the movie Bottle Shock include Rachael Taylor, Eliza Dushku, Freddy Rodríguez, Chris Pine and Bill Pullman.
Interestingly, Steven Spurrier did a 30th anniversary re-run of the famous blind tasting in 2006, which had the same results.
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