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With the help of Joanne DePuy, a longtime Napa resident, Spurrier travelled to San Francisco and sought out the region’s smaller, boutique wineries. Ultimately, the majority of the red wines were chosen from Napa Valley. The exception being Ridge Vineyards hailing from the Santa Cruz mountains:

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Judgment of Paris: How a Marketing Idea Changed the Course of California Wine - Part 2

Background on the competition and why it was important
The Judgment of Paris, or the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, as it’s also known, was one of the most significant events in modern wine history. This blind tasting competition pitted Chardonnay from California against their Burgundian counterparts from France, and California Cabernets (from Napa Valley) against France’s famous Bordeaux wine. It’s worth mentioning up front that all of the judges in the blind tasting were French…
The event was organized by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, and was to take place in Paris on May 24, 1976, a date that would coincide with America’s bicentennial. What started out as a clever marketing tactic to promote Spurrier’s Paris wine shop, and demonstrate that there were wines of quality outside of the traditional European markets, quickly turned into a highly significant event, one that would ultimately help propel the California wine industry into the multibillion-dollar behemoth it is today.

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Judgment of Paris: How a Marketing Idea Changed the Course of California Wine - Part 1

Three hours south of San Francisco and three hours northwest of Los Angeles lies the small town of Paso Robles, one of California’s lesser known wine regions. Paso Robles, or simply ‘Paso’, as the locals call it, was until the last few decades, referred to as a “dusty cowboy town”, known for cattle and nut orchards.

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Paso Robles Wine Guide

The name Mondavi is synonymous with Napa Valley, and, to a larger extent, California wine history. Nearly 60 years have passed since Mondavi sought to transform the way Americans think about, and consume wine. Today, the wine coming out of Napa Valley is considered on par with the greatest Italian and French wine producers in the world. The best Napa Valley hotels are thousands of dollars a night, Michelin-star chefs rule the culinary scene, and this small valley attracts wine enthusiasts, and the wine curious, from around the world.

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Robert Mondavi: The Man Who Would Change Napa Valley

Cult California wines. Those three words are enough to get most wine lovers excited about these ultra exclusive, high priced, luxury wines. 
Wine drinkers are drawn to these difficult to acquire California wines for a few reasons. Some purchase cult wines because they can. After all, there’s a certain pleasure in having special bottles of cult wine that not everyone can get their hands on. Some purchase cult California wines because, well, they just really love wine. And, there are others that buy cult wines for the investment opportunity. 
No matter their reason, cult California wines have legendary status in the wine world. Personal collectors, and those cellar masters whose clientele demand a certain caliber of wine, compete for the opportunity to buy cult California wines. 
Some wineries on this cult California wine list set out to leave their mark on the California wine landscape, while others acquired their cult status somewhat accidentally.

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Top 5 Cult California Wines What makes them "cult wines", and why do wine drinkers love them?

Andy Beckstoffer is a Napa Valley legend. In fact, Beckstoffer has made such an impact in Napa Valley in the five decades he’s lived there, that both the Wall Street Journal and Wine Spectator proclaimed him to be, “Napa’s most powerful grape grower”, and for good reason. His heritage vineyards, which date back to the 1800s, produce Napa Valley’s most sought-after grapes, which then become Napa’s most sought-after wines.
Vineyards like the To-Kalon vineyard, Dr, Crane, Missouri Hopper, and Las Piedras are what make the Beckstoffer Vineyards the crown jewel of Napa Valley grape growers. But Beckstoffer isn’t just another wealthy businessman who came to Napa to grow grapes, and then rest on his laurels. He set out to have a meaningful impact, one that would preserve Napa’s history as an agriculture-first community, for generations to come. 
Let’s dig a little deeper into how Andy Beckstoffer has shaped Napa Valley, and what makes the vineyards that produce his Beckstoffer wines so special.

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Andy Beckstoffer: His Influence in Napa Valley, and His Legendary Vineyards

When many people think of California wine, they think of California chardonnay, and for good reason. With 90,000 acres planted to chardonnay in California, the grape surpasses every other variety in the state.
Hundreds of winemakers produce chardonnays in Northern California, and they range from highly commercialized grocery store varieties to low-production boutique producers, and, of course, the famous cult chardonnays that wine drinkers dream of getting their hands on. These coveted wines and their legendary winemakers are part of a new wave of California chardonnay. 
Chardonnay has gone through a few stylistic iterations since the wine’s popularity picked up speed in the 1970s, thanks to the Judgment of Paris, which pitted California chardonnay against its Burgundian counterparts. In the span of a few decades, California chardonnay has gone from oaky butter bombs, to rich powerhouses, and now to a decidedly more balanced interpretation of this versatile grape.
Among the pack of new wave California chardonnay producers, four winemakers consistently standout: Kistler, Marcassin, Kongsgaard, and Aubert. But, what makes these four California chardonnays so special? How did these winemakers arrive at their techniques?
Let’s dig a little deeper to find out.

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The Best of the Best in California Chardonnay

With its artfully designed tasting rooms and world-class restaurants, today’s California wine country is destination tourism at its best. Surrounded by the modern glitz of places like Napa Valley, it’s easy to forget that California has been commercially producing grapes since the early 1830s when Jean Louis Vignes founded California’s first commercial vineyard in Southern California. And yet, when it comes to ancient vines and heritage vineyards, for most wine drinkers, it’s Europe that comes to mind, not California.