IT WAS meant to be a civilised wine tasting, but the re-enactment of a test that first put Californian wine above French vintages has provoked a spat in one of Europe’s grandest families.
Lord Jacob Rothschild, 70, banker, art connoisseur and richest of the British branch of the dynasty, agreed to host the tasting at the family’s former pile, Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire.
But the offer was withdrawn when Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, 72, chatelaine at Château Mouton Rothschild, the distinguished vineyard, heard of the plan.
She argued it would impugn the family honour to have the tasting at Waddesdon, which was built in Victorian times by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild but modelled on a 17th-century chateau in the Loire valley.
The baroness also insisted that none of her wines should be subjected to a blind tasting.
She could not prevent the judges from determining which of the 1970s Californian reds had aged as well as the great Bordeaux first growths.
But they were thwarted in their plans to give a verdict on the current wines from Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Lafite, also owned by a French branch of the family.
Lord Rothschild, whose wealth is recorded in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List with a family fortune of £573m, decided to bow to her wishes.
The tasting was moved last week to the cellars of Berry Bros & Rudd’s 300-year-old wine shop close to the baron’s office in London’s Mayfair. A simultaneous tasting took place in California’s Napa Valley.
Eighteen of the world’s top wine tasters swirled, sniffed, sipped then spat their way through the same label and vintage of wines first tested in 1976, in what has become known as the “judgment of Paris”. The idea was to see if Californian wines had aged as well as the French ones.
To the disgust of the French, the Californians won hands down. A 1971 bottle of Ridge Monte Bello, currently priced at £188, was the overall winner.
The only consolation for the baroness was that a 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild, currently £136 a bottle, came sixth as the highest placed French wine, even if it was judged against her will. The organisers refused to withdraw it because it had been one of the original wines tasted in 1976.
The Sunday Times carried out its own blind tasting for more affordable wines at Bibendum, the London wine merchants. California again came first. Fans of the film Sideways, about two friends who seek solace from their midlife crises in search of the ultimate pinot noir, will be delighted to learn that a £16.49 bottle of 2004 Morgan 12 Clones Santa Lucia Pinot Noir came top.
Steven Spurrier, a wine writer who staged the original Paris tasting and last week’s re-enactment, said: “I can still remember the shock felt by the French at the original event. It changed people’s perceptions of new world wine forever.
“The re-enactment was to be held in the Napa Valley and at Waddesdon Manor, but Baroness Philippine complained vociferously that she did not wish her wine to be compared to Californian wine. Her stance is strange because she has a major interest in Opus One, one of the greatest Napa vineyards.”
Lord Rothschild, who lives in a farmhouse next to Waddesdon, and still has a say in what happens there, insisted that he had no personal contact with the baroness on the issue. But Château Lafite, owned by another branch of the French family, also raised objections.
A spokeswoman for the baron said: “In making a final decision about whether to hold the event at Waddesdon, we of course took into account both Rothschild vineyards’ scepticism about the validity of the blind tasting and, on balance, decided it would be better for all involved if the event took place in central London.”
The baroness, a former actress with the Comédie Française, the French state theatre, was unavailable for comment. A source said: “Her case was that Waddesdon should not be associated with this, but she could not stop the tasting or Rothschild wine being tested.”
In the Sunday Times tasting, California was the overall winner, with French wines in second and third place.
Joanna Simon, wine critic of The Sunday Times, said: “In most cases, the French delivered more interesting flavours, but the Californian wines were more open and rounded.”
However Simon Farr, deputy chairman and wine strategist at Bibendum Wine, said: “If you take land and labour costs and you want a really good bottle of wine, it’s got to be at least £7. Between that and £20, there’s a disproportionate amount of oak in Californian wine.”
Howard Winn, wine quality manager at Sainsburys, said: “My view is that Californian wine will always be more lush but less subtle. The Morgan Pinot Noir was so lush — exotic fruit which I wouldn’t expect at that price level.”
Nicolas Clerc, head sommelier at the Milestone hotel, Kensington, said: “I was pleased to discover a much, much smokier taste from California, but for me there is not a big difference. I get the feeling that Californian wine is a bit warmer. Even though I’m French, I’m a fan of Californian wine.”
Andrew Baker, chief buyer at Virgin Wines, said: “Californian wines are better at the cheaper end of the scale. It doesn’t really tell me that France is not delivering.”
