7 minute read
Wine Country International Magazine 2017_2
Warren Winiarski Beyond The Judgment of Paris
Story and photos by Christopher and Darcy Davies
Forty-one years ago, the Judgment of Paris forever changed the world of wine in California, when Warren Winiarski’s Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon was named best red wine, making French vintners run for cover in disbelief. In the years thereafter, while enjoying enormous commercial success, Winiarski has become the number one champion for the California wine industry, as well as a benevolent supporter of many agricultural and local causes.
We caught up with Warren after his return from the 41st reenactment of The Judgment of Paris in Tokyo, where California wines showed their aging stature had remained stronger than ever.
Our interview was initially scheduled as a lunch, but since our flight was delayed due to fog, we had the honor of meeting Warren at his home above Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.
Warren Winiarski Interview
June 9, 2017
Conducted at Warren Winiarski’s home in Napa, California.
CD: Here we are, the founders of Wine Country International magazine in the lovely home of Warren Winiarski (pronounced Viniarski). How are you doing?
WW: I am doing fine. Thank you.
CD: We really appreciate your patience with us since our flight was delayed. This is probably better than trying to do the interview at a restaurant. Plus we have this lovely view of the Fay Vineyard in the distance.
CD: Let’s get some of the past out of the way. Since you have so much going on now. Let’s talk about the 41st Judgment of Paris. How did Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars get invited? How did they contact you?
WW: It was the Napa Valley Vintners that invited me to be their representative at the tasting. I was a taster but my reckoning did not count.
There were about nine tasters as I recall. Two were Americans. Two French people associated with the trade. And the balance of the five were all Japanese. All were wine professionals. They did the tasting. Their scores were counted. We were observer tasters.
CD: Where did this tasting take place?
WW: In Tokyo, at the Tokyo American Hotel.
CD: This was the most recent tasting. The 41st reenactment of the original Red Judgment of Paris tasting?
CD: You said that Napa Valley did very well.
WW: Napa Valley came out on top again. I was very proud of those wines.
They are all changing on any given day. But Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon came out on top! It was actually a 1969. I think that it was the oldest in that group.
CD: It looks that way. 153 points. That is the total points given by all of the judges combined?
WW: Yes. It was on a 20-point scale.
CD: And Mayacamus 1971 received a 147 score.
And then a 1970 Chateau Mouton Rothschild received 146.5. That’s pretty amazing! Stag’s Leap made the list too with a 133. Wow!
WW: What did it prove? It means that wines made well in the Napa Valley can age just as well as a French wine! There was some supposition that only the French wines can age well. And over time being the aristocrats and having sacred soil to grow in there would be some change in that supposition. You have to believe that after forty years that California wines can age very well.
CD: I am glad that everybody held onto those bottles! That is a significant achievement.
CD: So tell me looking back at the original Judgment of Paris and its success for California wines. Did this have a big affect on luring people into the wine business?
WW: Possibly. But more importantly it gave us reason to not be reluctant to strive for the highest status for our wines. Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson from that tasting.
WW: In the past, not so distant past, it was believed that French wines were at the top of any category of red wine. And that was put to rest with the Paris tasting. Because people all over the world had higher aspirations and they were encouraged to be attentive to the details. They were no longer limited by an artificial hierarchy which in fact did not exist. The wine-drinking public benefited because each region had higher aspirations for their wines.
CD: So back at the original Judgment of Paris the white wine that won was a Chateau Montelena?
WW: Yes
CD: Being a red wine producer, what do you think about the big strides in popularity and sales of Rosé wines?
WW: It is very interesting. Consumers shift. But there are certain standbys in structural things. Refreshing wines? Yes. Appetizing wines? Yes. Go with a lot of foods? Yes.
All those things are positive. I think that the shift to Rosé wines should not be taken negatively. Because people will look for a taste experience that they can only have with great whites or great reds.
CD: I was reading in France that they drink more Rosé than white wines nowadays.
WW: I didn’t know that. And you threw out France. I guess they are building a consumer base.
CD: I hear that you are part of a wine dinner in Washington D.C?
WW: I am part of it. Last year was the 40th celebration of the Paris tasting.
This year’s dinner was an interesting one. I have a booklet from that tasting that was honoring Mexican-American winemakers.
The Mexican-Americans have been a very big part of the development of wine in California. And I felt that it was time to sponsor a dinner where they could appear and show their wines. We sponsored five Mexican-Americans that also had aspirations that were encouraged by the industry.
One of them, Roland Herrera started here and his first job was cracking bricks for the stones that went into this house. He looked at me a certain way. I saw something in his eye that said this man is not going to stay around cracking bricks for the rest of his occupational life.
I hired him after his job to come into the winery. And he worked for us for almost three decades before he started his own enterprise.
DD: What has been the biggest change in viticulture from when you started to now?
WW: In the old times vineyard vines were on 8x8 spacing. So that you could cultivate two ways. Then agronomics came in. And the economy of spacing became important to maximize your efficiency. So you wanted to have the fewest vines that could make the greatest crop. So you could make a few turns in the vineyard. These types of agronomics came into play. That was the first revolution.
Then we focused on roughly 400 vines per acre. No one asked if this made better wines. Rather was it more efficient? The vines got very big. They produced more fruit. But not better fruit. They were efficient nonetheless.
This put vines in a death spiral as the vines developed a lot of leaves and less fruit taking away energy.
The second revolution came when we put the vines on less vigorous rootstock. And closer together to get rid of the energy… or the photosynthetic energy that was accumulating in the vines. With the vines closer, that made a big difference in quality. So nowadays we focus on what is the best way to produce the fruit and not on how many times the tractor has to turn.
