2026 Calistoga Tasting

This past June, the California Wine Institute’s Next Wave Sessions culminated in a tasting and dinner at Chateau Montelena in Calistoga. Bo and Heidi Barrett hosted the Wine Institute’s international group from 14 countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. All were leaders in their wine communities, including a bevy of MWs and MSs. Honore Comfort at the Wine Institute and Evan Goldstein MS, Next Wave Sessions master of ceremonies, had asked me to organize and lead the tasting.

Evan and I discussed a reimagining of the 1976 Paris Tasting, which we built with four Chardonnay–, and four Cabernet Sauvignon–based wines. In each case, one producer from France and California was in the original 1976 Paris Tasting. To select the second wine in each category, we polled the group in advance to get their opinions about leaders in these categories of California wine who have emerged since 1976. We also researched such possibilities in Burgundy and Bordeaux, then selected one representative from each category. The Wine Institute sourced current vintages of each wine.