(CBSLocal) - On the eve of America’s bicentennial celebration, our young nation revolutionized the world of great wines. At an event intended to be staged just for fun, an 11-member expert panel (nine of them French) judged a new generation of California wines against some of France’s most famous wines in a blind tasting — with a shock upset result overwhelmingly in favor of the USA. The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 (portrayed in the movie “Bottle Shock”) sent New World wines on their way, led by Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from California.

Approximately 90 percent of America’s wine production is from California, with its 107 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), which as the world’s fourth largest producer is surpassed only by France, Italy, and Spain.