Posted on 01/29/2005 9:48:17 PM PST by quidnunc
One of the most poignant moments in Sideways, Alexander Payne's Oscar-nominated film about a wine geek's mid-life crisis, takes places in a burger bar. Miles, the movie's balding, fortysomething anti-hero has fled his best friend's wedding after bumping into his ex-wife. Alone and miserable, he finds solace in a bottle of 1961 Chateau Cheval Blanc, sipped surreptitiously from a plastic cup.
The choice of bottle is significant. The 1961Cheval Blanc is a remarkable Saint Emilion, and for Miles it represents something very special. He has cherished the bottle for years, stroking its label in anticipation of its many complexities. The scene wouldn't be as touching if Miles were drinking a bottle of Merlot or California Blush. At his lowest ebb, Miles turns to a bottle of claret.
To the filmgoer, the message is clear: France makes the world's most memorable fine wines. Miles is not alone in revering what is produced on the other side of the Channel. France would take at least half the spots in any oenophile's list of the 50 greatest wines. To drink something from Gérard Chave, Domaine Leflaive, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Cheval Blanc, Chateau d'Yquem or the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti can still be a transcendent experience.
Such wines represent a tiny proportion of what France produces, however. Demand for the top names may be as strong as ever, but the rest of the French wine industry is doing rather less well. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that French wine generally is mired in the merde. The talk in France is of a crisis to rival the devastation caused by phylloxera, a root-munching aphid that wiped out most of the country's vineyards in the second half of the 19th century.
Many French appellations, from Madiran to Mcon, Beaujolais to Bordeaux, are finding it increasingly difficult to sell their products. Earlier this week, the French wine industry decided on a desperate short-term remedy: the mass distillation of 250 million litres of wine, 80 per cent of it from appellations contrôlées, supposedly the top tier of French production. No doubt much of the cost will be borne by the EU and the French government, but that's almost beside the point. The damage to France's sense of self-worth will be huge.
-snip-
They could always use the wine to bathe.
Or to say that the French in general are full of merde!
No matter how hard you try, you can't dislike the French too much.
Can't believe they drink that stuff, but whatever. The author's point about appellations is good. Varietal labeling is more consumer friendly and makes it much easier to become acquainted with wines. Frech appellations take a lot of study. But I have to wonder if the reduced exports don't also have something to do with French politics.
I have not seen the movie but something seems wrong here. I'm told from customers this movie is about the (winewise that is) pinot noir varietal, which is in Burgundy and bears no relevance to the wines mentioned in Bordeaux. I am a certified and practicing sommelier. I would like to hear more.
POOOOR BABIES!! The EU will pick up the TAB!!! For how long! The new members of the EU are Poorer than the original countries, France and Germany are on the Brink and the new members are coming in with their hands out!!
With the "WEAK" dollar, The Euro is picking up steam, but this is not good, because the Euro is CHUMP CHANGE, it's HOLLOW!! There's no solid base to support it!! CRASH!!!
Nothing like that French leadership though!!! That's why Jocko wants a WORLD TAX for the POOR!
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40559
I bet Jocko will be first in line to receive some free bucks from AMERICA!! Then AMERICA will have saved their BUTTS again, but will they ever admit it?!!
You could see this coming years ago. California wines, for example, are quite comparable to all but the French grand crus. And American production know-how, combined with greater marketing savvy, insured that California would eventually surpass the somnolent (yet arrogant) French houses.
People have discovered that French wine, like De Beers diamonds, is overhyped.
Alaxander Valley all the way...our local wines are better and cheaper...
Yes. One of the most eloquent moments in the movie comes when Miles and the wine-savvy waitress he is courting discuss the characteristics of the pinot noir grape as a metaphor for life.
They discuss the difficulty of growing the grape, the inconsistency of its rewards, its dependence on terroir, the ethereal joy of finding that one superlative bottle of Burgundy among twenty or fifty others of no consequence, with lots of tight shots of meaningful glances into each other's eyes.
Miles also makes clear his contempt for forgettable Merlot, oak-splintered and over-malolactated Chardonnay, flabby Cabernet Franc, and highly extracted New World style Cabernet Sauvignon. They mock the big tourist-infested winery tasting rooms, in a hilarious scene that I am pretty sure was shot at the Fess Parker winery in Los Olivos.
If you are a sommelier, you will want very much to see the movie. It is by far the most wine-centered movie ever made. And it's a darn good flick too, although you definitely don't want to take your mom or your kids along with you. It richly deserves its R rating.
-ccm
Huh?
You can take this to the bank.....Won't drink French wines. I instead will buy the fine Australian wines or California wines.
Small wonder why so much French wine is ending up being converted for other uses lately.
The best wines come in a box!
When they fill their country with the non-wine-drinking Muslims and they offend a ton of people on the other side of the pond with their Bush-bashing politics, what do they expect?
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