Steven Spurrier, the British wine merchant, writer and winegrower who organized the famous Judgment of Paris Tasting of 1976, passed away on March 9, 2021. At the Paris Tasting, Spurrier pitted little known Napa Valley wines against the top French wines of the era. A nine-person panel of esteemed French experts tasted and judged the wines “blind,” that is, without knowing the wines’ identities in advance. During the tasting, the judges remained convinced that the French wines would prevail. But after revealing the evaluations, several Napa wines took the top scores.
Shock waves went through the wine world. In one moment, Napa wines and New World wines generally gained a measure of equal footing on the world’s wine stage. At the same time, Spurrier’s fame was sealed as having a nose for New World wines and a sense unexpected humor.
RETURN TO CALIFORNIA AND “BOTTLE SHOCK”
In 2018, Steven returned to Napa Valley as the keynote speaker at the Wine Writers Symposium at the Meadowood Resort. I attended the event and had the pleasure of joining Spurrier and our colleagues from the around the country in tasting many great Napa wines. I took the photo above of Steven at Meadowood.
Steven had impressive knowledge of the producers and vintages. His intelligent comments and enthusiasm remained infectious. Naturally, the famous Paris Tasting of 1976 also arose since Steven played such a central role.
After the speech at cocktail hour, I chatted briefly with Steven, and I saw firsthand his self-deprecating humor. I asked him about the popularity of “Bottle Shock,” a 2008 movie comedy based loosely on the events leading up to the Judgment of Paris Tasting. Steven was on record as having a dim view of the film saying it contained “hardly a true word.” But in our conversation, he responded with a humorous backstory.
He mentioned that the late actor Alan Rickman, the film’s star who played Spurrier, had been his good friend and drinking buddy. Their families even vacationed together in Europe. Anyway, Rickman sent Steven the film’s script in advance of production for comment, and Steven expressed his strong disapproval. He asked that Alan not commit to the project.
The famously acerbic Rickman responded, “That’s too bad, because I am already committed and will do the film.”
At which point, Steven considered pursuing a legal injunction since be felt the story told in “Bottle Shock” was so inaccurate. But first he consulted with his wife, Bella.
‘She told me, “Steven, how many times in your life will you be the subject of a comedy feature film and be portrayed by an actor with the talent and personality of Alan Rickman? Leave it alone, Steven.”
Spurrier then smiled and said, “And so I did. It was a good decision.”
He went along with the gag of “Bottle Shock” which earned laughs by depicting Spurrier as a stereotypical stiff Englishman who nevertheless wins the day by taking the pretentious French wine snobs down the a peg. In not fighting “Bottle Shock,” Spurrier let his commonsense triumph over pride. It showed that he did not take himself too seriously. Plus he valued his friendship with Rickman with whom he remained a drinking buddy.
It’s just a small example of Spurrier’s unexpected sense of humor. Just like the time he had a little fun at the expense of the French wine establishment at the Judgment of Paris Tasting.
For more, read his memoir, “Steven Spurrier: Wine — A Way of Life,” published in 2018. Spurrier was a long time contributor to the British wine magazine, Decanter. He also served as President of the London-based Circle of Wine Writers.
RIP Steven Spurrier.