The Judgment of Princeton

UVA-QA-0813 Dec. 4, 2013 THE JUDGMENT OF PRINCETON In what has been called the most important wine event of the 20th century, wines from California’s Napa Valley were evaluated alongside some of France’s best in blind taste tests conducted in Paris on May 24, 1976. In what is now known as the Judgment of Paris, a wine from Napa Valley was judged the best (of 10 tasted) in both the red and white competitions. To put it mildly, the result stunned the wine world. For most people at the time, it was simply unthinkable that wines from California could be as good as those from France. For example, upon hearing the results, one of the Paris judges demanded to have her scorecard back for fear that it would become known that she had rated some of the California wines higher than the higher-priced and better-respected French wines.1 The event was dramatized in the 2008 film Bottle Shock. The sole journalist attending the Paris event was George Taber of Time magazine. Thirty- six years later, Taber, with the help of two wine economists from Princeton University and various New Jersey wine associations, would stage a similar event. But this time, the best French wines would be compared with the best wines from New Jersey. That’s right—New Jersey. People have been making wines [in New Jersey] since colonial days, although after American Prohibition most of them were underwhelming sweet ones made with local blueberries and peaches. A small cadre of vintners, though, had been striving in recent years to produce better wines using the world’s leading viniferas.2 If all went well, Taber and the group knew this event would be called “the Judgment of” some place, and with that in mind, they selected Princeton as the setting instead of other possible New Jersey locations such as Newark, Jersey City, the Jersey Shore, Hoboken, and Ho-Ho-Kus. The tasting would take place at Prospect House on the Princeton campus, in what once had been Woodrow Wilson’s (former president of both Princeton University and the United States) dining 1 George M. Taber, “The Judgment of Princeton,” Journal of Wine Economics 7, no. 2 (2012): 143–151. 2 Taber. DO NOT COPY This case was prepared from publicly available sources by Phillip E. Pfeifer, Richard S. Reynolds Professor of Business Administration. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright 2013 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to [email protected]. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation. -2- UVA-QA-0813 room, on the afternoon of Friday, June 8, 2012. Results would be announced later that day in the Dodds Auditorium at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Nine respected judges (six from the United States, two from France, and one from Belgium) were recruited (see Exhibit 1). Wineries from all over the state of New Jersey were invited to submit white wines (specifically, Chardonnays) and Bordeaux-style red wines to be considered for the competition. A series of blind taste-offs was used to select the six New Jersey wines in each category that would compete against some of France’s best wines (four reds and four whites—Paris had used six Napa wines and four French wines in each category). The French wines were selected in a manner similar to that used in Paris—meaning that they were the best currently being sold in Paris wine shops. The four French reds competing at Princeton were from the same four châteaus that had competed at the Judgment of Paris. Exhibit 2 lists the 20 wines that would be tasted at Princeton. If price was a reliable signal of quality, then Princeton would not be much of a contest. The eight French wines ranged in price from $70 to $650 wholesale, with most in the $100–$150 range. The New Jersey wines cost from $12 to $50, and the majority were under $40.3 The most expensive wine at Princeton was a 2004 Château Mouton Rothschild retailing for nearly $1,000 a bottle. The 1970 vintage of this wine finished second in Paris to a 1973 Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. The Blind Tastings On the afternoon of June 8, 2012, the nine judges sat three to a table (just as the judges had in Paris) in the Prospect House dining room. Each had 10 glasses of white wine already poured and labeled A through J. The order had been determined by pulling names out of a hat (just as it had been in Paris). After a brief explanation of the 20-point scoring system (also used in Paris), the tasting began. There was very little talking, and most judges scored each wine one after the other. Some judges went back and tasted each wine a second time before recording their scores. It was also the case that some judges went back and changed some scores. The tasting of the whites took slightly longer than half an hour. The judges left the room while tables were cleared and the reds were poured into new glasses. The tasting of the reds went just as smoothly.DO The judges leftNOT the room to socialize COPYand take the short walk to the auditorium to hear the results. (Exhibit 3 shows how the 180 separate ratings (20 wines times nine judges) were recorded into an electronic spreadsheet.) Would the Judgment of Princeton be just as important for New Jersey wines as the Judgment of Paris had been for California wines? The scores and time would tell. 3 Taber. -3- UVA-QA-0813 Exhibit 1 THE JUDGMENT OF PRINCETON Wine Judges Judge Title Location Jean-Marie Cardebat Professor of Economics, Montesquieu University—Bordeaux IV France Tyler Colman Writer, Dr. Vino blog (http://www.drvino.com/) United States John Foy Wine columnist, the Star-Ledger; restaurant and wine cellar consultant United States (http://www.thewineodyssey.com) Olivier Gergaud Professor of Economics, BEM Bordeaux Management School France Robert Hodgson Operator, Fieldbrook Winery United States Linda Murphy Coauthor of American Wine; columnist, Decanter United States Danièle Meulders Professor of Economics, Université libre de Bruxelles Belgium Jamal Rayyis U.S. correspondant, Gilbert & Gaillard United States Francis Schott Owner, Stage Left restaurant; podcaster, The Restaurant Guys United States (http://www.restaurantguysradio.com) Source: All exhibits created by case writer. Exhibit 2 THE JUDGMENT OF PRINCETON Wines Tasted White Wine Vineyard and Type Year Location A Heritage Vineyards Chardonnay 2010 New Jersey B Unionville Vineyards Pheasant Hill Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2010 New Jersey C Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 2009 France D Joseph Drouhin Le Clos des Mouches Premier Cru 2006 France E Silver Decoy Winery Black Feather Chardonnay 2010 New Jersey F Bellview Winery Chardonnay 2010 New Jersey G Ventimiglia Chardonnay 2010 New Jersey H Domaine Jean Latour-Labille Meursault-Charmes Premier Cru 2008 France I Amalthea Cellars Europa VI Chardonnay 2008 New Jersey J Domaine Marc-Antonin Blain Grand Cru Bâtard-Montrachet 2009 France Red Wine Vineyard and Type Year Location A DOChâteau Montrose NOT COPY2004 France B Château Mouton Rothschild 2004 France C Silver Decoy Winery Cabernet Franc 2008 New Jersey D Heritage Vineyards Estate BDX 2010 New Jersey E Bellview Winery Lumière 2010 New Jersey F Tomasello Winery Oak Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 New Jersey G Château Léoville-Las Cases 2004 France H Amalthea Europa VI 2008 New Jersey I Four JG’s Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2008 New Jersey J Château Haut-Brion 2004 France -4- UVA-QA-0813 Exhibit 3 THE JUDGMENT OF PRINCETON Judges’ Ratings Judge Wine Red/White Rating Jean-Marie Cardebat A White 10 Tyler Colman A White 16 John Foy A White 16 Olivier Gergaud A White 14 Robert Hodgson A White 17 Linda Murphy A White 15.5 Danièle Meulders A White 10 Jamal Rayyis A White 16 Francis Schott A White 17 Jean-Marie Cardebat A Red 15 Tyler Colman A Red 14 . Jamal Rayyis J White 12 Francis Schott J White 15 Jean-Marie Cardebat J Red 14.5 Tyler Colman J Red 11 John Foy J Red 17.5 Olivier Gergaud J Red 18 Robert Hodgson J Red 11 Linda Murphy J Red 18 Danièle Meulders J Red 15 Jamal Rayyis J Red 16 Francis Schott J Red 17 DO NOT COPY.

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