by Andrew Chalk
After World War 2, Champagne Pol Roger was so grateful for the role its most famous customer had played in liberating their country from tyranny that they named their most prestigious cuvée in his honor: Cuvée Winston Churchill.
Steven Spurrier, who died on Tuesday, did no small favor for California wine in organizing The Judgement of Paris. That event, on 25th May 1976, was four hours that shook the world, putting California wine on the world map.
I have no idea what Spurrier's favorite California wine was (where is Jancis Robinson or His Royal Hughness when you need them?) but would it not be appropriate for some, especially the successors to the wines that won in Paris, to produce a Cuvée Steven Spurrier, even if only a one-vintage homage.
Just a thought.