Last week I was so grateful to host a group of Graileys members and their international colleagues to a Graileys’ wine dinner they will never forget! We re-created the wines from the tasting that not only placed California on the map for wine fine, but truly opened the doors for all regions to make extraordinary wine: the Judgement of Paris Tasting of 1976. Although we didn’t have the opportunity to open any of these bottles from the 70’s, we were able to recreate the same exact producers and vineyards, but from younger vintages; and what a very interesting tasting this was…
The red wine that became an American icon in the 1976 tasting was the 1973 Stags Leap SLV in a lineup tasted blind against 1971 Ridge Monte Bello, 1970 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard and First and Second Growth Bordeaux such as 1970 Mouton Rothschild, 1970 Montrose, 1970 Haut Brion and 1971 Leoville las Cases.
The winning white wine was 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, up against Burgundy’s finest such as 1973 Charmes Roulot Meursault, 1973 Ramonet-Prudhon Batard Montrachet and 1972 Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles. After forty years and even over multiple dynamic changes in these wineries, it seems like our palate has not changed too much in style…
To everyone’s surprise, the winning red wine was the 2013 Ridge Monte Bello! A fantastic, iconic Cabernet that many thought it was from Bordeaux. The Ridge Monte Bello was absolutely gorgeous with rich ripe fruit, dark chocolate, warm vanilla and toasted cedar with deep, dark minerals pulling everything together. The finish was lengthy and its layers were seductive.
2nd Place: 2010 Promontory- The Graileys twist on this historic lineup, the 2010 Promontory was better than I remember… and I do remember it being quite bad ass the first couple of tastings… Youthful, powerful and demanding with incredible aging potential, this is a must have in any serious Napa Cabernet lover’s collection.
3rd Place: 2012 Stags Leap SLV
4th Place: 2003 Haut Brion
The final ranking of the wines, from right to left, winning red being the 2013 Ridge Monte Bello!!
From the two white wines, Chateau Montelena takes the win again!! The 2010 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay out-tasted the 2012 Domaine Leflaive Les Pucelles. It didn’t have my vote that night, but the Montelena Chard is a beautiful wine that clearly had a very strong outcome in the blind tasting. The ’12 Leflaive Les Pucelles was on fire with opulent, warm tones in the mid-palate and beautiful minerals and yellow citrus and golden apples leading the way.
Dinner prepared by Top Chef Tre Wilcox.