One of the biggest bangs heard in the history of wine, on a May evening in 1976, caused barely a ripple in the home of Warren and Barbara Winiarski, the proprietors of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley. The day before, a 1973 Stag’s Leap cabernet sauvignon had won a tasting in Paris that pitted some of the greatest French wines against bottles from upstart California. His article, “Judgment of Paris,” trumpeted a shocking David-over-Goliath triumph that gave the fledgling California wine business a swift dose of international credibility. “The unthinkable happened: California defeated all Gaul,” Mr. Taber wrote. Almost 50 years later, marketers are still using that tasting, re-enacting it countless times, to sell California wines around the world.

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Persons: Barbara Winiarski, Winiarski, ”, George M, Taber, David, ” Mr Organizations: Time Locations: Warren, Napa Valley, Paris, California, France, Gaul