The 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting, widely regarded as one of the most consequential events in modern wine history, is to be reimagined as an opera.
Festival Napa Valley has announced the commissioning and world premiere of The Judgment of Paris, a new one-act work by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. The production will debut on 18 July 2026 at Charles Krug Winery as part of the festival’s 20th anniversary season.
The commission marks Festival Napa Valley’s first original opera and will be performed with a full orchestra.
Rather than presenting a straightforward retelling of the famous tasting, the work blends mythology with historical events, bringing together Greek gods and the California winemakers who challenged France’s dominance during the now legendary blind tasting organised by Steven Spurrier in Paris.
Gods, winemakers and a blind tasting
According to Festival Napa Valley, the opera centres on a rivalry between Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, and Venus, the goddess of love.
Bacchus defends the supremacy of French wine, while Venus champions curiosity, experimentation and change. Their dispute unfolds against the backdrop of 1970s Paris and Napa Valley as Spurrier, Patricia Gallagher and a group of pioneering Californian winemakers prepare the tasting that would alter global perceptions of fine wine.
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