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Militant oenology news ping.
Posted on 03/23/2006 9:00:31 PM PST by quantim
One of southern France’s biggest wine groups has pulled out of negotiations over a battle plan for the country’s ailing wine sector, days after militant winemakers sent 1.5m litres of its wine flowing into the street. He said Val d'Orbieu would not come back to talks until more constructive solutions to France's wine crisis had been put forward. The government and industry's inaction and refusal to meet economic realities head on were hampering the process, he added. Masked men, claiming to be from the shadowy Regional Action Committee of Winemakers (CRAV), took just 20 minutes last Friday to break open several of Val d'Orbieu's wine vats, sending millions of bottles-worth of French wine gushing into the street. Devic told BeverageDaily.com the damage could cost between €1.5m and €2m. “It is all French wine, I hope there will not be any more [attacks],” he said. It is thought that Val d'Orbieu was targeted because of its commercial nature. Large businesses, retailers and sales houses have been attacked in the last year in anger at the low prices offered to winemakers for their wines. Yet, Devic said Val d'Orbieu employed 100 people near Narbonne and collected wine from 15 different co-operatives in the Languedoc region. Around 70 per cent of this wine is then exported, making the group an annual €400m in sales. One source close to CRAV told www.BeverageDaily.com that the atmosphere among winemakers in Languedoc Roussillon had become “very, very bad. “The agriculture minister has left the situation to go downhill, he has said nothing. The violence is a consequence of that.” CRAV attacks have increased in ferocity and intensity since Christmas, and millions of litres of Spanish, Italian and French wine have been spilled in streets across the region. Police arrested nine winemakers near Montpellier last week in connection with several attacks, including on police cars, wine houses and local government offices. In the end, four were charged with hampering traffic flow, while five were released shortly afterwards without charge.
Jean Devic, president of the Val d'Orbieu group, said his firm would take no further part in discussions with industry representatives or politicians in light of the attack it suffered at the hands of militant vintners last Friday.
Ping to Militant Vintner list.
Used to be, if you drank too much you ended up on the street. Now if you end up on the street, you might drink too much.
They had better leave my Two-Buck Chuck alone.
Click to be +/- on this low volume rabble-rousing wine ping list.
Militant oenology news ping.
Here is what, IMHO, what really happened
Ahhem.
The boycott of French wine in the US has caused a large problem of storage of last years unsold wine. The owner and a few freinds, drunk on wine from Napa valley, decided to reduce the overage and blame it on 'militants'. An insurance claim will be filled, more unsold wine can be stored and the grass growing throught the cobblestone on the street has been killed.
Everyone wins. Of course his insurance permiums will go throught the roof but he will get goverment aide to pay it as the wine industry is protected in France.
If Russian vodka goes down the drain it just makes the local river into a mixer.
Militant rebel vintners. Unleash the Imperial cloenophile army.
LOL! That's funny. But, in reality the U.S. boycott of all things French has driven wine prices, much, much lower in France.
Left unseen is that the tourists that still visit France (car fires, anyone?!) spend less money there. Tourists from Eastern Europe and Turkey just don't have the disposable income of American travelers, en masse.
LOL
Very clever.
And they deserve everything they're getting! I know my "trip to France" was put on hold because of their extreme stupidity and it stays on hold because of the Paris riots!
I even found a New York supplier for my Brie, available at Trader Joe's, and it's very good!
Ta-ta France! Enjoy your problems!
I actually love visiting France. A beautiful country with a beautiful history and people who are, for the most part, friendly (especially if you talk to them in French first). Unfortunately, it's been downhill starting with the Revolution (nasty little event that was, though perhaps a necessary event handled unnecessarily).
You might find Brittany more your speed. They've got a very strong Celtic heritage there. Pipes, fiddles, reels, and the whole 9 yards. Most religiously observant part of the country, as well.
Sorry, I really can't explain my Francophilia. I despise the nihilism, socialism, amoral (really anti-moral) and anti-American culture that has arisen there. But you can't be a medievalist and not love France. And Paris really is one of the most beautiful cities on earth. With everything to hate about the place, I still love it.
And French accents... hotness.
"But you can't be a medievalist and not love France. And Paris really is one of the most beautiful cities on earth. With everything to hate about the place, I still love it."
Being part French, I still have feelings for the beauty and history of France, in spite of my being real annoyed at their political stance on so many issues and their rampant socialism. France had a great and glorious past; and perhaps, if they are lucky they can retrieve their future if they wise up. Maybe after Chirac goes. But they better move fast now, as there is not much time left before they are dhimmi's in Eurabia. It's sad to see a once proud and great Empire with its enormous cultural and scientific contributions, come to such an ignoble state of being. Paris is beautiful, the palaces, art, music, its entire great cultural heritage, the lovely coastal parts of France, and the wine country are all exquisite. I loved France when I visited it, but it has sunk so low of late. I hate feeling rotten about the French part of me where once there was great pride. Come on France, heal thyself.
Thanks for the tip, sir! And Kudos to you. May I suggest visiting Florida, maybe one of our all inclusive resorts?
Yeah, my wife awanted to see Europe, but we're considering allied countries exclusively. To us, France is not longer a country but has become the least significant attraction at EPCOT.
I'm going to France! Burrrrp!
Good wine alert--
I recently had three that I can recommend.
1. Lopez Malbec (N.V.) (Argentina) -- Bright red, full of lively cherry flavors and aromas. Well balanced and very pleasing. I had it at an Argentinian restaurant in Bethesda (at what I later found out was an outrageously inflated price). I'll buy a case of this stuff if I can locate it....but it has proved frustratingly hard to locate a retailer who carries it.
2. Montecillo Gran Reserva Rioja 1996. Best Spanish wine I've had so far. This one has a wonderful, earthy cellar character that reminds me of the cellar character one gets with a good Flemish Brown Ale (such as Liefmann's Goudenband or Dutchess d' Bourgogne). I was really impressed with this wine. This is another one that I will buy in case lots. It cost $19.99 at Corridor Wine in Laurel, but Maryland is a pricey market, and this wine will probably cost less in most other places.
3. Rafferty's Angel's Shiraz 2001. Great stuff, fruity and floral (the vintner adds a little bit of Viognier grape for the floral character). This is an allocated wine and is damned hard to find, but worth the effort. The retailers who sold it to me (Edgewater Liquors, in Edgewater, MD) claimed it took 5 years on a waiting list for them to get a shipment. Buy it if you can find it.
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