[pcx99]

:)

[DoughtyOne]

What? You mean Woody Allen hasn't turned things around. Well it's time to pull out the big gun, Jerry Lewis.

[katykelly]

snif

[Conspiracy Guy]

Dang when it gets down to $3.00 a bottle, I'll buy all they can ship.

[MinorityRepublican]

F the French!

[mombonn]

LOL - it's not just w(h)ine. Goat cheese from france was $1.00 less than domestic goat cheese when I was shopping for treats the other day.

[concentric circles]

I scanned the list of affiliates of The LA Times(The Tribune Co.) and The Washington Post/Newsweek in relation to the legal settlement with Free Republic and Jim Robinson. No where was MSNBC listed, nor Reuters.

While it is often pointless to post from any of the above mentioned sources I will post the entire story from Reuters.

French Wine Producers Feel Squeeze of U.S. Boycott
Wed June 25, 2003 03:50 PM ET
By Claude Cannellas
BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - Calls to boycott French products during the trans-Atlantic spat over Iraq contributed to a slump in U.S. sales of French wines, which were down by about a quarter from last year, wine merchants said.

With the weak dollar also weighing, flagging sales to the United States left an air of gloom over the Vinexpo wine fair in Bordeaux, which a warm handshake between French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and U.S. Ambassador Howard Leach could not lift.

"There's been a drop of 14 percent in March and 22 percent in April in sales of French wine," said New York wine importer Timothy Enos at the 12th biennial Vinexpo salon, describing the U.S. backlash against French products as "ridiculous and excessive."

"The big wines still have their place. The drama is for the smaller wines, like generic wines. I'm afraid that for them the competition is much more difficult," he said.

France's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which prevented Washington getting United Nations approval for its military campaign to oust Saddam Hussein, sparked U.S. calls for consumers to boycott French products like wine and cheese.

Other merchants at the wine fair muttered off the record that their sales were down as much as 40 percent, and an online survey concluded that sales of French wine to the United States fell 26 percent in volume terms in the month to mid-May, compared to the same period a year ago.

While the United States accounts for less than 10 percent of overall French exports, the U.S. market is the biggest buyer of Bordeaux wines which include favorites like Saint-Emilion.

France's wine producers are also suffering, along with other traditional producers like Italy and Spain, from increased production and tough competition from New World vineyards in California, Australia and Chile.

Roland Feredj, head of the Bordeaux Interprofessional Wine Council (CIVB), said that while first-quarter sales of Bordeaux to U.S. merchants had been boosted by demand for the 2000 millesime (millennium) vintage, U.S. consumption of Bordeaux had slumped.

"Over the past two months we've seen a fall of practically 25 percent, and that's more worrying," Feredj said. "But we think it's a phenomenon that will fade away with time."

Nicolas Gailly, chief executive of wine firm Barton et Guestier told the French daily Les Echos this week that his sales were down 25 percent in early 2003 "because of the weak dollar and the boycott."

Raffarin, visiting the June 22-26 Vinexpo salon on Sunday, shook hands with Leach, and the pair pledged to get relations back to normal between the two countries after overall U.S. imports of French goods fell 9.6 percent in the first quarter.

Some 50,000 wine professionals attended Vinexpo, where about 40 countries put their wines on show.

Related post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/932890/posts
French Wine Sales Still Dropping in United States
Wine Spectator
June 18, 2003
Dana Nigro

[Bill Davis FR]

BOYCOTT ALL FRENCH PRODUCTS

[Sam Cree]

It's not really a boycott, it's just that nobody wants the stuff.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I've trying some different wines. I wouldn't buy French wine at gunpoint. I'm amazed at how good the Idaho wines are that I've tried. I haven't tried any Australian wines, but I hear they've got some really good stuff, too.

[And I love it when I see signs in the windows of small stores that insist they do not sell French products. In fact, I saw one store sign that said that if you find a French product in their store, they'll pull it off the shelves and give you a comparable product from a different country for free.]

[VOA]

flagging sales to the United States left an air of gloom over the Vinexpo wine fair in Bordeaux

Let them drink their own freakin' wine.

[etcetera]

That's good news about French wines, but how are their cheese sales doing?

[Republican Wildcat]

Let them eat cake...with their unsold wine.

[clintonh8r]

Mrs clintonh8r and some friends and I enjoyed a bottle of nice California chard tonight. I doubt we'll ever buy another bottle of French wine.

[ApesForEvolution]

Can you cook with french wine? Ahh, but why ruin a good meal?

[RJayneJ]

''There's been a drop of 14 percent in March and 22 percent in April in sales of French wine,'' said New York wine importer Timothy Enos at the 12th biennial Vinexpo salon, describing the U.S. backlash against French products as ''ridiculous and excessive.''

They are like my husband. He doesn't understand after all these years that saying 'don't be ridiculous,' or don't be silly,' is not going to get him out of the dog house.

[fatima]

Double :):)

[Imal]

Why buy French whine when they give it away so freely?

[mtbopfuyn]

A bit of good news to brighten the morning.

[schaketo]

Chirac's opposition to the Iraq war opened a deep rift between France and the United States as well as within Europe

Perhaps I can help Chirac understand the PERMANENT change in U.S. sentiment:

1. french President Jacques Chirac, personally helped Iraq begin its nuclear program.
2. france assisted China in shipping raw materials for chemical weapons to Iraq through Syria.
3. french security services helped suppress opposition groups seeking to depose Saddam Hussein.
4. The french had supplied Iraq with precision switches for nuclear weapons.
5. french companies had resupplied Iraq with spare parts for fighter jets on the eve of the March 2003 invasion. Intelligence reports indicated that Iraq was able to obtain French military spare parts for its Mirage jets and Gazelle attack helicopters in violation of U.N. sanctions.
6. The french helped Iraqi officials escape U.S. capture by issuing them EU passports. The passports allowed the Iraqis to evade detection by U.S. military and intelligence agencies because they were EU travel documents.
7. Intelligence officials said France attempted to conclude an oil deal with Saddam's government days before U.S. military action began March 19.
8. french anti-aircraft weapons smuggled into Iraq prior to the war, the Roland 3 batteries, and Roland 5 shoulder-fired anti-air missiles. Reports have still not been denied that these systems were stamped '2002 date of manufacture.' 9. The french peddled disinformation against the Americans before the war -- this is a war for oil, Resolution 1441 does not authorize military action, George Bush is "cowboy," etc. -- at the very least, they now deserve some of their own.

Those countries who stood against us before the Iraq War are responsible for EVERY life lost in Iraq -- whether the lives be coalition lives or Iraqi lives. france, more than any other country, is responsible for all the deaths of our warriors.

france had an unemployment rate of 9.3% last month (April 03). It’s rising. Can we help them push it over 10%? 20%?. The new reality show on FOX this fall could be the marxists, socialists, and fundamentalist muslim imports (they are about 10% of the population and growing) burning paris to the ground. You can help:

WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET!

Gotta keep this alive. Share this link with all like minded family and friends. They are feeling the heat.

15000 french products that you can boycott:

http://howtobuyamerican.leethost.com/b-db-boycottfrance.shtml