Judgment of Paris: Film "Bottle Shock" Brings the Paris Tasting of 1976 to the Big Screen

On May 24, 1976, Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant hoping to stoke sales at his French-wine-only shop, held a wine competition in Paris. In this competition French judges were invited to blind-taste top chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons from France and California. In an event that would later be dubbed the Judgment of Paris, the California wines –included merely to serve as the “sacrificial lambs” to the supposedly superior French wines- won the competition in a shocking upset. This singular event revolutionized the wine industry and put California on the map as a major world producer of fine wine.

This story comes to life on the silver screen for the first time with the film Bottle Shock, starring Bill Pullman, Alan Richman, and Dennis Farina among other notables. I recently chatted with Bottle Shock Co-Writer and Producer Jody Savin about the film.

Why this film now?

To answer this question in a socio-political sense, I would venture to say that we live in challenging times. The fragile social ego which reigns pervasive could probably use a boost. BOTTLE SHOCK is about having a dream and pursuing a dream at great personal risk. An artistic dream, an individual dream— a dream whose realization rather incidentally comes to have global repercussions. BOTTLE SHOCK is a movie about the courage of the human spirit— and ultimately its triumph. What better medicine for trying times?

In making this film, what input did you receive from the original participants - Jim Barrett, Bo Barrett, Steven Spurrier, the various judges, George Taber - in the Judgement of Paris?

After convincing the Barretts and Mr. Brambila to give us permission to tell their personal stories on screen, we then became their disciples. Jim Barrett, Bo Barrett, Heidi Barrett and Gustavo Brambila told us their stories, reviewed and critiqued the script, and sat on set as consultants during the shooting of scenes that begged for a viniological verisimilitude.