WINE ICON STEVEN SPURRIER PASSES

Steven Spurrier, known as the man who put the Judgement in Paris together and in turn, put California wine on the international stage, has passed away at the age of 79.

Spurrier’s career began in 1964 as a trainee with Christopher and Co. In 1970 he moved to Paris where he purchased a small wine store on an out of the way street, but soon found some success. From 1971 he ran this wine shop, the Les Caves de la Madeleine. and would encouraged clients to taste wines before they bought them. Soon his business achieved recognition as a highly regarded specialist wine shop. In 1973 he started L’Academie du Vin, France’s first private wine school, which was central to the wine education of several wine personalities.

Spurrier went on to stage the influential Judgement in Paris Tasting of 1976, when a Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Stags Leap were ranked above some of the most prestigious wines of France. This caused a huge stir within an industry, who thought no one could unseat the French in terms of quality.

Spurrier returned to the UK in 1988, and became a wine consultant and writer. He was director of The Christie’s Wine Course, which he co-founded in 1982. Also, though a very enjoyable movie, (see review) https://boozepress.com/lifestyle/booze-theater-bottle-shock-review/  Spurrier was highly critical of the script of Bottle Shock and intimated that much of it was false. He even considered suing at one point. Through much of his later years, he served as a consultant with businesses such as Singapore Airlines and the publication Decanter. In 2018, he starred in the documentary SOMM 3 alongside Fred Dame and Jancis Robinson. In 2019, he founded the Academie du Vin Library with Simon McMurtrie to publish wine writings. The Library published the latest edition of his memoir in 2020. Spurrier is survived by his wife and 2 children. Salud Steven!