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Posted by Alan Boehmer Nov 3, 2007 |
New World wine aficionados fondly remember the famous Judgment of Paris blind tasting back in 1976 when both red and white wines from Napa Valley were declared superior to the best French Bordeaux red and Burgundy white. Despite the fact that the tasters were French, the winning wines were a Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and a Chateau Montelena Chardonnay made by Mike Grgich. The tasting was staged again in Dijon two years later with similar results.
A recent event held in Napa Valley and London replicated this historic tasting, using Premiere Grand Cru red Bordeaux and California Cabernet Sauvignons from the 1970s. The results were surprising and very interesting.
First of all, the overall winner this time was the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Cruz Mountains. This, tasted 36 years after the vintage! How did it and the other California Cabernets hold up to the aged Bordeaux? "Remarkably well," said Dan Berger of the Los Angeles Times. But tasters on both sides of the Atlantic agreed that New World Cabernet made in the current style—high extraction and high alcohol—are unlikely to age so gracefully. Berger reported that the general consensus of the panels was that California Cabernets made in the 21st century are likely to start fading after ten years.
Nevertheless, thanks largely to the wine press, New World wineries continue down the path of ever more concentration and higher alcohol. Indeed, today's 14% is yesterdays 13%. And 15% may not be far down the line.