The Judgment of Paris
NEW ORLEANS, May 19, 2026 — Fifty years ago, in a Paris tasting room, nine French wine experts scored a flight of wines blind and handed California an upset that shocked the wine world and forever changed it. One judge demanded her scorecard back. The only journalist who saw fit to attend filed a story for TIME magazine that became legendary.
On May 19, 2026 — the 50th anniversary of that improbably seismic moment — International House and its celebrated Loa bar will stage The Judgment of Paris in New Orleans, joining a select wave of events honoring this milestone across the United States. While a roster of judges will formally rank the wines, this tribute - inspired by the city’s signature joie de vivre - is also a festive taste-off in which every guest is a judge.
Of note, the invited judges bring together an extraordinary collection of voices from the worlds of wine, hospitality, food, journalism, and entertainment. They include acclaimed actor, author, and vintner Hill Harper — star of CSI: NY and The Good Doctor and author of four New York Times bestsellers; Leslie Pariseau of Patron Saint, co-founder of the award-winning drinks publication PUNCH and a three-time James Beard Award nominee; renowned importer Carl Moberg of Louis/Dressner Selections, one of the most respected natural wine portfolios in the country; Lydia Castro of Acamaya; Monica Bourgeois of Pontchartrain Vineyards; Jenni Rainosek of Lirette's and formerly of Bayona; Kathleen Smith of Brennan's; Spencer Sabo of Herbsaint; Susan Hislop of Artisan Bar & Café; Leyden Pavlovics of N7; and Taylor Terrebonne of The Furloughed Four. Together, they represent a remarkable cross-section of the people shaping contemporary wine culture in New Orleans and beyond — making this anniversary celebration not only a tasting, but an authentic gathering of tastemakers.
The blueprint is elegant in its simplicity: four flights of five wines each, poured blind. French Bordeaux goes head-to-head against California Cabernet. French white Burgundy faces off against Napa Chardonnay. Experts judge before the party starts. Then, the fun begins, and guests score their favorites. Like masking culture in New Orleans, once concealed, the bottles are revealed. The room decides.
But the evening goes further. Beyond the main flights, a curated selection of “freestyle wines” of formidable wines from outside those two storied regions will be presented — a reminder that the wine world did not stand still after 1976. In ways, they exemplify the most consequential effect of the 1926 competition. Said one winemaker years later, “It opened the door for great wine to come from anywhere.”
In addition to anchoring the night is the special Legacy Session: more than a dozen Napa and Bordeaux reds from the 1970s and 1980s, a rare and intimate sampling of the exact wines, styles, and winemakers of the original tasting. Call it terroir or taste of Place. It’s tasting history in a glass.
Grazing tables of gourmet cheeses, breads, and artisan provisions will run throughout the evening, set in the hotel’s soaring lobby and a lounge soundtrack weaving together the definitive sounds of 1970s California and Paris — the music, the mood, the moment, not only restored but updated with a New Orleans twist.