Pierre Brejoux

Last updated

Pierre Brejoux was Inspector General of the Appellation d'Origine Controlee Board, which controls the production of top French wines. he served as an expert wine taster in the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. In the blind tasting, California wines won both the red and white wine categories. After the tasting, there were many calls for him to resign his position as Inspector General because so many people and groups were highly displeased with the results. He later revealed to George Taber that he traveled to California in 1974 and 'learned a lot - to my surprise...'. Brejoux also authored several books on French wine. [1]

Contents

Published works

See also

Related Research Articles

Charles Collé

Charles Collé was a French dramatist and songwriter.

The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant and his colleague, Patricia Gallagher, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines. A Californian wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win.

Steven Spurrier (wine merchant) British wine expert

Steven Spurrier was a British wine expert and merchant who was described as a champion of French wine. Spurrier organised the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, which unexpectedly elevated the status of California wine and promoted the expansion of wine production in the New World. He was the founder of the Academie du Vin and Christie's Wine Course, in addition to authoring and co-authoring several wine books.

French wine Alcoholic beverage made from grapes grown in France

French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and American wine-producing regions. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive wines sold internationally to modest wines usually only seen within France such as the Margnat wines were during the post war period.

California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.

Garagistes

The garagistes refers to a group of winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing "vins de garage", "garage wine". A group emerged in the mid-1990s in reaction to the traditional style of red Bordeaux wine, which is highly tannic and requires long ageing in the bottle to become drinkable. The garagistes developed a style more consistent with perceived international wine tastes.

Michel Dovaz is a Swiss wine critic and food writer. He started his career as a journalist in Paris, France and later taught wine courses at the Academie du Vin in Paris when he served as a judge at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. He subsequently wrote several books on French wine as well as the chapter on Champagne for the Guide Hachette des Vins.

The Académie du Vin was established in Paris in 1973 by Steven Spurrier as France's first private wine school. It is associated with the 1976 Judgement of Paris blind wine tasting which brought international recognition to California wines and viticulture in the New World.

Odette Kahn

Odette Kahn (1923–1982) was a leading authority on wine and editor of the La Revue du vin de France and of Cuisine et Vins de France. She was a judge at the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. Kahn was outraged at the results of the tasting, unsuccessfully demanded her ballot back, refused later to speak to organizer Steven Spurrier after the event, claimed fraud, and wrote disparagingly about the wine competition. This event was later portrayed in the movie Bottle Shock.

Raymond Oliver was a French chef and owner of Le Grand Véfour restaurant in Paris, one of France's great historical restaurants. Oliver detested nouvelle cuisine, preferring the rich ingredients favored by the chefs in his native Gascony.

Aubert de Villaine is a social economist and co-owner and co-director of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Some of the world's most expensive wines are produced on several of its approximately 50-acre (20 ha) vineyard holdings in Vosne-Romanée and Montrachet. He was originally co-director with Lalou Bize-Leroy, both having inherited their ownership. However disagreements over the direction of the estate, led to Bize-Leroy's expulsion from the management and her replacement by her nephew.

George McCaffrey Taber is a journalist and entrepreneur.

Jon Winroth

Jon Winroth Broneer was an American wine critic who lived and worked in France.

Patricia Gastaud-Gallagher was a director at the Académie du Vin, a impetus, with Steven Spurrier, behind the 1976 Judgment of Paris wine tasting event and participated as one of its eleven judges. She was also on the Copia panel that oversaw the rematch on The Judgment of Paris 30th Anniversary. She is one of the few non-French natives to have won the distinguished Chevalier du Mérite Agricole given for distinguished service to the French Wine industry. She was also academic director and director of the wine department of the famous LE CORDON BLEU school of cuisine and pastry. She is a co-author of the book Le Cordon Bleu Wine Essentials: Professional Secrets to Buying, Storing, Serving, and Drinking Wine. Patricia is featured in the film 'Judgement of Paris' set to premiere on SOMM TV in May 2022, from the creators of the Somm (film) series, to tell the true story of the 1976 wine tasting.

Christian Dubois-Millot, pen name Christian Millau, was a French food critic and author.

Luxembourg wine

Luxembourg wine is primarily produced in the southeastern part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, with vineyards overlooking the river Moselle. Along this river, which for 42 km makes up part of the border between Luxembourg and Germany, wine is made in three countries. There is a continuous history of winemaking along Moselle and in Luxembourg going back to Ancient Roman times. Wine production in 2006/07 was 123,652 hectoliter from 1,237 hectares of vineyards. Out of total wine exports of 87,776 hectoliter in 2005/06, 71,726 hectoliter or 82% was exported to nearby Belgium. Exports to Germany were the second largest at 8,168 hectoliter, or 9%, and is to a large extent made up of base wine in bulk for the production of blended Sekt rather than being sold bottled with "Luxembourg" anywhere on the label. Therefore, very little Luxembourg wine is seen outside Luxembourg and Belgium.

Nicolas Joly is a French winegrower in the Loire wine region, and one of the pioneers and leading personalities of the biodynamic wine movement.

Ixsir

Ixsir is a Lebanese wine company established in 2008. The winery is located just outside Batroun, north Lebanon.

Joseph Capus French politician

Joseph Marie Capus was a French agriculturalist and expert on grape vines. He became a deputy in the French national parliament, and was Minister of Agriculture for a few months in 1924. He was active in legislation related to agriculture and was the driving force behind introduction of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée for French wines.

References

  1. Taber 2005 , pp.  159 , 217

Further reading