Forty Years Ago -- Judgement of Paris

Before May 24, 1976 all the world's great wine came from France. Actually, all of the good wine also came from France. Conventional wisdom and history put France at the center of the wine universe. That day Burgundy and Bordeaux took a hit that changed the wine business.

The Judgement of Paris, as it's now called, was a blind tasting of Chardonnay and Cabernet from California and France. The best part was the judges were all French wine experts.

The winners were both from California.
 

 
Some of the French judges were so embarrassed they wanted to change their votes. The bottles pictured here are in the Smithsonian.