The Press Democrat

Festival Napa Valley commissions first opera, inspired by a defining moment in wine history
June 2026

Fifty years after a Paris wine tasting helped transform California’s fortunes, the event is being reimagined as an opera.

For its 20th anniversary summer season, Festival Napa Valley has commissioned “The Judgment of Paris,” an original work inspired by the famed 1976 blind tasting in which French judges unexpectedly ranked California wines above some of France’s most celebrated Bordeaux and Burgundy labels. The upset shattered assumptions about the supremacy of French wine and helped propel Napa Valley onto the global stage. On July 18, the festival will feature the world premiere of the one-act opera, created by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer.

“Normally, an opera of this scope would take two to three years to develop and create,” Heggie said. “We had just over a year to make it all come together. That was quite daunting.”

Festival leaders approached Heggie and Scheer — the creative team behind the Grammy-winning opera “Intelligence” — with the idea of transforming the historic tasting into a stage work.

The title itself carries a double meaning. The 1976 competition became known as the “Judgment of Paris,” borrowing its name from the ancient Greek myth in which the Trojan prince Paris judges a contest among rival goddesses. The tale has inspired artists and composers for centuries, and Heggie and Scheer decided to weave mythology into their retelling.

“The 1976 wine tasting led to a seismic shift in the world of winemaking,” Heggie said. “It all came together so quickly and surprisingly that it almost seems there must have been some kind of ‘divine’ intervention.”