Great Chardonnay Showdown
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The Great Chardonnay Showdown, held in the spring of 1980, was organized by the wine columnist for the Chicago Tribune newspaper with help from three Chicago wine stores. A total of 221 Chardonnays from around the world were selected for the blind wine competition. France and California were heavily represented, but entries from many countries around the world were included.
"Five panels of five judges each first selected 19 finalists. Then ten of the original judges reviewed the finalists a second time." The winning wine was the Grgich Hills Wine Cellar Sonoma County Chardonnay 1977, which was the new winery's very first vintage. It was declared the best Chardonnay in the world.
The winemaker was Mike Grgich, who had earlier made the Chateau Montelena that won first place among white wines at the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. In so doing, his wine beat Meursault Charmes Roulot, Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin, Batard-Montrachet Ramonet-Prudhon, and Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive.
Another major Chardonnay wine competition was the Grand European Jury Wine Tasting of 1997.
[edit] See also
- Paris Wine Tasting of 1976
- French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986
- Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986
- New York Wine Tasting of 1973
- San Diego Wine Tasting of 1975
- San Francisco Wine Tasting of 1978
- Wine Olympics
- Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981
- Halekulani Wine Tasting of 2000
- Berlin Wine Tasting of 2004
- Ottawa Wine Tasting of 2005
- St. Catharines Wine Tasting of 2005
- Tokyo Wine Tasting of 2006
- The Wine Rematch of the Century
The above wine competitions are unique and significant because (1) all tasting was done blind and (2) the results were listed in rank order from highest to lowest with only one winner per rank.
[edit] Source
- Taber, George M. Judgment of Paris: California vs France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. NY: Scribner, 2005.
