In 1976 a blind tasting was organised in Paris (by Steven Spurrier if I remember correctly). It pitched, blind, some top French wines against top Californian wines. The Californians came out on top. A book on the event written by the only attending journalist has just been published (George Taber: Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting). Read a long interview with the author here.