A major milestone for California wine occurs tonight when the best and brightest of global technology gather in a private tasting at the Louvre Museum—the official home for French State events—where they’ll be tasting some of the Golden State’s finest wines.

This event marks the first time that non-French wines will be poured in this historic space—coincidentally falling on the exact 35th anniversary of the famed Paris Wine Tasting, a landmark competition which first opened the world’s eyes to the potential of California wines.

But tonight, amongst distinguished guests, the toast to wineries from Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara is a pure celebration of shared culture and agriculture between France and California. This once in a lifetime tasting demonstrates the open-minded nature of the e- G8.

Hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the 1,000 attendees of the e-G8 summit, were brought together as “leaders of the Internet” to make contributions that will be submitted for discussion at the G8 Forum itself, in Deauville. Three hundred of these tech industry leaders have been invited to the tasting hosted by Publicis, Intel, Yahoo! and Accel Partners.

“This global forum is a historic opportunity to showcase the wines of California, allowing some of the state’s most sought-after producers to share their best bottles, in France, in a non-competitive celebration of wine,” Matthew Wilson, founding partner of Soutirage, said.

The 13 wines being poured at the event, all of which were donated by the respective producers, were not revealed until today, and were selected by Greg Castells, wine director at Soutirage, Wilson and Joe Schoendorf of Accel Partners. Soutirage, located in Yountville, Calif., specializes in rare and fine wines from around the world and

works closely with individuals and corporations to build, develop and manage collections, along with hosting events in many countries. Last year, the wine company partnered with Accel to host a successful wine tasting at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

"Having seen the fantastic reception that California wines have received at our famous parties in Davos, we decided that both of California's famous valleys—Silicon and Napa/Sonoma—should be united in Paris," Schoendorf said.

For this tasting, Soutirage and Schoendorf focused on the noble French grape varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Some of the wines they selected are making their international debut, while wineries such as BOND, Screaming Eagle and Colgin Cellars, for example, export only tiny quantities of their wines: several shown here produce as little as 400 to 500 cases a year.

“It’s a real honor to curate this important tasting because we can demonstrate that California wines are among the best in the world,” Gregory Castells, Wine Director of Soutirage said. “There is an unprecedented interest in wine on a global scale, so it’s exciting to bring the finest examples from California before such a significant audience of tastemakers."

Given the tech savvy crowd, guests will be able to access tasting notes for each wine during the event— via iPhone, Blackberry and other smartphones—by snapping a photo of the quick response (QR) code on the bottle, taking the user to a website where they can learn more about the wine (www.soutirage.com/eg8).

Ten of the 13 vineyards represented at this groundbreaking event are located in Napa, and each winery donated two cases. Vintner owners Sir Peter Michael and Jim Bailey of Knights Bridge are attending tonight's celebration.

Three white wines were chosen: 2008 Hyde De Villaine Chardonnay, Carneros; 2008 Knights Bridge Chardonnay West Block, Knights Valley; and 2007 Peter Michael Chardonnay La Carrière, Knights Valley.

The selected red wines: 2008 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville; 2006 Casa Piena Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville; 2006 Sloan Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford; 2005 Colgin Red Wine IX Estate, Napa Valley; 2005 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine, Oakville; 2004 Sine Qua Non Syrah Ode to E, Santa Rita Hills; 2003 Staglin Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford; 2003 Favia Red Wine Cerro Sur, Napa Valley; 2001 BOND Proprietary Red Wine Vecina, Oakville; and 1997 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon Signature, Napa Valley.

California Governor Jerry Brown sent his support and best wishes via letter to Soutirage and event co-host, Accel Partners, the Palo Alto-based global venture and growth equity firm.

“For many years California has been producing wines that are world class. The tradition of excellence is reinforced with each passing vintage: there has never been a better time to enjoy the fruits of California vineyards than today,” Governor Brown said.