How Chateau Montelena Won the Judgement of Paris with Bo Barrett
About this episode
Bo Barrett discusses the surprising victory of Chateau Montelena at the Judgment of Paris and its impact on California wine.
Wine Talks is continuing the "Judgement of Paris" series with the most unlikely of the all. The Barretts were neighbors and patrons of Paul Kalemkiarian's Sr's wine shop in Palos Verdes Estates and in fact, as told by Bo in this podcast, probably the shop where the family bought the wines they used to celebrate the win. What happens when a surfer from Palos Verdes trades the ocean for Napa's vineyards and ends up toppling French wine supremacy? On this episode, Bo Barrett uncorks the rebellious roots behind Chateau Montelena's epic 1976 Judgment of Paris victory, revealing how a tax credit, a ghost winery, and a crew of passionate misfits changed wine history forever. Paul Kalemkiarian digs into the wild mix of grit, luck, and audacity that put California wine on the world map—and why that maverick spirit is under threat today. Learn: The Real Reason Napa Took Off: Tax Shelters and Amateurs, Not Romance Forget the myth of French-style passion and old-world elegance—Bo Barrett reveals it was IRS tax credits and total novices that sparked Napa Valley's boom, with estate owners cluelessly weighing artichokes, avocados, and even cow farming before settling on wine at 08:14 . Paris…
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