The Judgment of Davis is a blind wine tasting event to be held at the University of California, Davis, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the May 1976 Judgment of Paris—the blind tasting that shocked the wine world by proving that top California wines could hold their own against prestigious bottles from Bordeaux and Burgundy.
A half-century later, the Judgment of Davis will put California’s wines to the test once again in a landmark event with a statistically rigorous format, co-organized by the Harvard Data Science Initiative and the Departments of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Viticulture & Enology at UC Davis, to be held in the Sensory Theater of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.
Quick links: Public tickets | Submit wines to the competition
In a departure from the format of the original Judgment of Paris, challengers in the Judgment of Davis will come not just from France, but from top wine regions around the world. In the final tastings to be held on May 18, 2026, 20 wines—four reds and four whites from California, and six reds and six whites from regions outside California—will be judged and rated by an invited expert panel of renowned wine professionals, including Masters of Wine and some of the world’s most influential critics, sommeliers, and winemakers.
The 20 wines in the finals—10 Cabernet Sauvignon-based reds and 10 Chardonnay-based whites—will be selected based on the results of an initial blind tasting of up to 400 wine entries from across the globe. The top-scoring wines from this first round will then advance to the final round on May 18.
In the final round of the Judgment of Davis, the expert panel will be joined by a small cohort of ticketed guests from the general public, who will have the exclusive opportunity to participate in the Judgment, tasting and evaluating these wines alongside expert judges and media. Access is highly limited to preserve the rigor of the format and the quality of the experience.
At the conclusion of each tasting, the names of the wines will be revealed, and results, rankings, and winners of the competition will be announced.
Statisticians and economists will further analyze the results and present them in a more detailed format two days later, on the afternoon of May 20, 2026, as part of the 2026 Vine to Mind Symposium at the University of California, Davis, co-organized by the Harvard Data Science Initiative and the Departments of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Viticulture & Enology at UC Davis, with support from the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.
Additional information about the Judgment of Davis:
Public admission to the Judgment of Davis: A very limited number of tickets to the Judgment of Davis final round at the Robert Mondavi Sensory Theater on May 18, 2026, will be released to the public in stages, pending availability. Separate tickets are required for the red and white tastings. Individuals or organizations wishing to purchase tickets can visit the Judgment of Davis ticketing portal.
Wine submissions to the Judgment of Davis competition: Wineries, distributors, and importers wishing to submit samples to participate in the competition: Please see rules, instructions, and the official submission form at the Judgment of Davis wine submission portal.
Vine to Mind Symposium: Individuals or organizations wishing to attend Vine to Mind Please visit the Vine to Mind symposium ticketing portal.
Other queries: Media requests, inquiries from wineries submitting samples to the competition, or other questions or concerns: please contact Lissi Knell, Harvard Data Science Initiative.
