The Judgement of San Francisco
California wines were an unknown until The Judgment of Paris in 1976 when unknown California wines were judged against the BEST French wines by a distinguished panel of French wine judges. A Newsweek Reporter by the name of George Taber covered what journalists called a “nothing event” since everyone knew the French Wines under French wine judges would beat these unknown California wines. Chateau Montelena Chardonnay took top white wine and Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon took top red. Taber’s eight-paragraph article in his magazine opened the world to California wines. Now it is Texas’ turn to showcase our great Texas wines to the world!
Fast forward fifty years to January, 2026 in San Francisco in what many believe is America’s Model Wine City. The San Francisco Chronicle hosts a well-respected annual wine competition using mostly California Wine Judges. Seven unknown Texas wines took top varietal wines besting those well-known California wines. This is BIG since these unknowns from Texas beat out the BEST that California had to offer. Those magnificent seven included:
• Augusta Vin 2022 Dragonfly Red wine blend
• Augusta Vin 2022 Beau Chance Red wine blend
• Hilmy Cellars 2021 Montepulciano
• Jaclynn Renee 2024 Mourvedre
• Llano Estacado 2024 Rose’
• Missick Cellars 2024 Viognier
• Whatley Wines 2021 The Missing Piece Red wine blend
Texas wines also earned 27 Double Gold Medals and 68 Gold Medals. This special recognition by the panels of California wine judges parallels the conclusions of those French wine judges in 1976. This recognition is outstanding since Texas’ first winery after the end of Prohibition started in 1976 which is the same year when the Judgement of Paris occurred. California wineries immediately re-started in 1933 when Prohibition ended providing California with 43 years to get it right for the 1976 Judgment of Paris. Twenty-one years ago, Texas had 50 wineries. This slow growth evolved into a 24 billion dollar industry. Both the quantity and quality of Texas wines has increased over the last 50 years into a Texas wine industry that the world can appreciate as a producer of outstanding wines.
Texas wines are now more readily available in stores like SPEC’s and HEB than ten years ago. Shelf space in those stores for Texas wines now exceeds shelf space for French wines. Those Texas wines have to be mass produced to provide the thousands of cases required by those stores in order to have shelf space in those stores. The BEST Texas wines are found in the local wineries all over Texas with those hand-crafted wines being of superior quality than those wines found in those retail stores. In addition, you need to have inexpensive wines on those store shelves like Becker’s Iconclast Wine series for under nine dollars a bottle. To find the really great Texas wines, go to the wineries where these boutique wines that are handcrafted are sold. Those $30 bottles of Texas wines will compare to those $100 bottles of prestigious Napa wines.
Wine consumers need to realize that Texas wineries make some of the BEST wines in the Country. Those TOP wines are found mostly at those Texas wineries, with the lesser quality wines (whether from Texas or California) found in stores like HEB. That doesn’t mean those wines are not good. We enjoy a Becker Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah red blend as our daily wine for around twelve dollars a bottle. We hold out for the outstanding, more expensive Texas wines for special occasions!