A Frog in your throat

The Age ^ | 10 April 2006 | Bridie Smith

[Aussie Dasher]

THE French are arrogant, it is said, and when it comes from the mouth of a Frenchman, things get interesting.

Even more so when the Frenchman, a wine producer from south-western France, delivers a red wine called Arrogant Frog to the Australian market.

Jean-Claude Mas, a fourth-generation wine producer from the Languedoc region, admits the label, which arrived in Australia last year, is designed to be provocative.

But it is also designed to help him penetrate an Australian industry battling a historic wine glut.

But things are not as bad here as they are in France, which is what prompted Mr Mas to look further afield to keep his family's winery, Domaine Paul Mas, in business.

In France, falling consumption and export sales forced some winemakers to turn 100 million litres of wine into ethanol last year, which was then sold to oil refineries to mix into fuel.

Domestic wine sales fell by 10 per cent last year.

"It's a serious crisis. It's the worst ever crisis, for sure," Mr Mas, 40, said.

To compound matters, Mr Mas said, it was no longer enough just to be French when exporting wine. "The phrase 'made in France' is no longer sexy," he said.

"That is a major problem for the whole country. Made in France is no longer appealing, and we are not appealing on price, because our costs are too high, or because people do the job better than we do. We have to compete on innovation now, and new ideas.

"We think we do it right, but we have to present it differently, for example, Arrogant Frog."

It's not only the name Arrogant Frog that Mr Mas hopes will work. The under-$10 price is designed to be just as eye catching.

Despite the local glut, Dan Murphy — which stocks Arrogant Frog — said it recorded an 80 per cent growth in the imported wine category last year.

Imports manager Campbell Stott said 95 per cent of that growth came from wines priced below $10.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week, the quantity of imported wines arriving in Australia during February increased by 23 per cent on the previous month after decreasing each month since November last year.

[Aussie Dasher]

I've no idea why any Aussie would drink Frog juice when their is such a vast array of excellent Australian wine available.

SCREW THE FROGS!!!!!

[Darth Malice]

I love it when the Frenchies lose.....Should we save them from the muslims?.....NOT!