Grgich 'Paris Tasting' Chardonay 2019

$250.00

Product Notes

This Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay opens with aromas of tart kaffir lime, fresh sweet mango, dried lemon zest and fragrant beeswax followed by subtle notes of fruity, floral verbena and rich vanilla. The palate displays fresh citrus notes, honey blossom, juicy green pear and succulent pineapple. The fruit expression on the front palate is extraordinarily clean and crisp and leads into a dense and complex minerality on the mid-palate. The acid and fruit are balanced beautifully, and the wine has a clean and long finish.

Winemaker Ivo Jeramaz joined his uncle at Grgich Hills Estate in 1986 and has since become the winery's winemaker and VP of vineyards and production. Ivo has always had a passion for organic and regenerative farming practices. He has committed to farming each of our five estate vineyards organically without the assistance of pesticides or herbicides.

"At Grgich Hills, we grow grapes like my grandfather did, farming without chemicals and pesticides," Ivo says. "Mike taught me early in my career that you need great grapes to make great wine. Over the years, I’ve focused on working with the land. Through our natural farming, it’s been very rewarding to see the soil alive with healthier plants than under conventional farming. It allows the wines to be more authentic — more distinctive."

The health of the vineyards has and always will be a top priority for Grgich Hills Estate. With each glass of their wine, they hope that you can have the confidence that they have grown the best grapes possible in healthy, organically farmed vineyards.

MAY 24, 1976 | HISTORY

The Paris Tasting

Steven Spurrier, a wine expert from England who ran a fine wine shop in Paris, decided it would be fun to organize a blind tasting to coincide with America’s Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. For the tasting, he gathered together the best French judges, the finest French wines, and to salute America on its 200th anniversary he added in a few wines from some upstart winemakers in California. Steven hoped the tasting would bring favorable attention to his wine shop. But he didn’t have any idea of the impact that his Bicentennial tasting would have on the world of wine.

André Tchelistcheff, along with Jim Barrett, had hand-carried an armload of California wines to Paris for the competition. The blind tasting was held at the InterContinental Hotel in the center of Paris. The morning competition was devoted to white wines and the afternoon was devoted to the reds. And Steven Spurrier brought together the very best white wines of Burgundy: a 1973 Meursault-Charmes, a 1973 Beaune Clos des Mouches, a 1973 Bâtard-Montrachet, and a 1972 Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles.

Alongside these French legends there was the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay crafted by Mike Grgich, and other Chardonnays from California that the French judges had never heard of either. The judges expected to sniff and gag when they tasted the California wines.

But it didn’t happen that way. The nine French judges blind tasted the white wines and graded each of them. The winner was the Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that Mike Grgich had made, with 132 points, the highest total scored of any of the wines, red or white, in the tasting. It was the champion! Then, to add insult to injury, the third and fourth places went to Chalone Vineyard and Spring Mountain Vineyard.

https://www.grgich.com/the-paris-tasting/