Calgary l’Ordre Mondial 40th Anniversary
September 24, 2016
Joe Scorgie, Vice Echanson
On September 24 2016, the l’Ordre Mondial in Calgary hosted a 40th anniversary re-creation of the famous 1976 “Judgment of Paris” tasting. With the help of Willow Park Wine & Spirits, Pacific Wines & Spirits, and La Chaumiere restaurant we came as close as possible to recreating the actual list of wines presented in 1976.
The organizing committee procured exclusive and rare wines for the evening with a value north of $10,000.00.
The wines await.
The evening started with a semi-blind technical tasting of both the white and red wines. Guests were asked to try to identify each of the wines but more importantly rank their wines, as it was our intention to have the results of the tasting presented later in the evening.
The wines presented included:
Whites:
Chateau Montelena Napa Valley 2012
Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches Premier Cru 2012
Freemark Abbey Los Carneros Chardonay 2012
Domaine Roulot Meursault 2012
Reds:
Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2012
Stag’s Leap S.L.V. Cabernet 2012
Ridge Monte Bello 2012
Freemark Abbey Bosche 2012
Chateau Haut Brion 2011
Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2012
Chateau Montrose 2012
Mayacamas Cabernet 2012
After a half hour of quiet tasting, our four panel members took turns talking about each of the wines. Peggy Perry spoke to the Californian reds, Peter Smolarz spoke to the Bordeaux reds and Linda Robinson spoke to the whites, while Joe Scorgie provided the historical context and ongoing repercussions of the tasting throughout the wine industry.
Vice-Echanson Joe Scorgie discusses the wine industry.
After the panel discussion ended and the tasting sheets with scores were all collected, we retired to the outdoor patio for Taittinger Champagne and canapes. While we enjoyed the reception, the serving brigade at La Chaumiere changed our dining room from a tasting set-up using more than 600 glasses to our dinner setting using another 200 glasses. We also used this time to tabulate the
results of the Calgary 2016 Judgment of Paris.
After we were seated, and before an outstanding dinner of halibut, rack of lamb and cheese was served, the results were presented based on a ranking scale from 1 (highest score) to 8 (lowest score). This was done to ensure some lively banter at each table.
Results were as follows:
Whites:
2.24 Chateau Montelena Napa Valley 2012
2.34 Joseph Drouhin Beaune Clos des Mouches Premier
Cru 2012
2.62 Freemark Abbey Los Carneros Chardonnay 2012
3.14 Domaine Roulot Meursault 2012
Reds:
3.26 Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2012
4.31 Stag’s Leap S.L.V. Cabernet 2012
4.34 Ridge Monte Bello 2012
4.62 Freemark Abbey Bosche 2012
4.69 Chateau Haut Brion 2011
4.79 Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2012
5.07 Chateau Montrose 2012
5.59 Mayacamas Cabernet 2012