On May 24, 1976, a British wine merchant quietly gathered nine of France's most respected wine professionals in a Paris hotel and asked them to judge wines blind. No one expected what came next.

Steven Spurrier had brought California's finest alongside the benchmarks of Bordeaux and Burgundy — First Growths, Grand Crus, the most revered names in wine. The judges, all French, were never told which glass held which wine. Their scores alone would decide. When the results were tallied, California had won both categories outright — a result so unexpected that one judge reportedly tried to take her scorecard back.

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#	Wine & Producer	Vintage	Origin	Score
1	Château Montelena Napa Valley — Chateau Montelena Winery	1973	USA	132.0
2	Meursault-Charmes Burgundy — Domaine Roulot	1973	France	126.5
3	Chalone Vineyard Monterey, California	1974	USA	121.5
4	Spring Mountain Vineyard Napa Valley, California	1973	USA	120.0
5	Beaune Clos des Mouches Burgundy — Joseph Drouhin	1973	France	119.0
6	Freemark Abbey Winery Napa Valley, California	1972	USA	109.5
7	Bâtard-Montrachet Burgundy — Ramonet-Prudhon	1973	France	108.0
8	Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Burgundy — Domaine Leflaive	1972	France	101.5
9	Veedercrest Vineyards Napa Valley, California	1972	USA	98.5
10	David Bruce Winery Santa Cruz Mountains, California	1973	USA	97.0

6 of 10 Chardonnays were Californian; California took 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 9th and 10th place.

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#	Wine & Producer	Vintage	Origin	Score
1	Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. Napa Valley — Warren Winiarski	1973	USA	127.5
2	Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac — 1er Grand Cru Classé	1970	France	126.0
3	Château Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan — 1er Grand Cru Classé	1970	France	125.5
4	Château Montrose Saint-Estèphe — 2ème Grand Cru Classé	1970	France	122.0
5	Ridge Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mountains — Ridge Vineyards	1971	USA	105.5
6	Château Léoville-Las-Cases Saint-Julien — 2ème Grand Cru Classé	1971	France	103.5
7	Heitz Cellars Martha's Vineyard Napa Valley — Heitz Wine Cellars	1970	USA	100.0
8	Clos du Val Napa Valley — Bernard Portet	1972	USA	98.5
9	Mayacamas Vineyards Napa Valley, California	1971	USA	89.5
10	Freemark Abbey Winery Napa Valley, California	1969	USA	78.0

6 of 10 Cabernets were Californian; France swept 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th with its finest châteaux.

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Why it mattered

The scores were aggregated from each judge's personal 20-point assessments. France retained tremendous pride — four of the top six reds were French — but finishing second in both categories, behind unknowns from Napa Valley, shook the establishment. The concept that terroir was an exclusively European privilege died in that Paris hotel room.

George Taber, then writing for Time Magazine, was the only journalist present. His resulting article brought the story to a global audience. The French press largely ignored it; the American wine trade never forgot it.