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Why France is Whining About Wine
The Observer [UK] ^ | January 30, 2005 | Tim Atkin

Posted on 01/29/2005 9:48:17 PM PST by quidnunc

The French have lost the initiative when it comes to selling and making their most famous product

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-


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: france; frenchboycott; frenchwine
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1 posted on 01/29/2005 9:48:18 PM PST by quidnunc
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To: quidnunc

They could always use the wine to bathe.


2 posted on 01/29/2005 9:51:59 PM PST by sheik yerbouty
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To: quidnunc
In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that French wine generally is mired in the merde.

Or to say that the French in general are full of merde!

3 posted on 01/29/2005 9:54:20 PM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: sheik yerbouty

No matter how hard you try, you can't dislike the French too much.


4 posted on 01/29/2005 9:55:18 PM PST by Owl558 (Please excuse my poor spelling)
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To: quidnunc
the best-selling imported wines in the UK and the US, Blossom Hill (from California) and Yellow Tail (from Australia) respectively, are low on personality and high on residual sugar. But that's what punters want.

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.

5 posted on 01/29/2005 9:59:20 PM PST by GVnana (If I had a Buckhead moment would I know it?)
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To: quidnunc

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.


6 posted on 01/29/2005 10:03:01 PM PST by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: quidnunc

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?!!


7 posted on 01/29/2005 10:03:06 PM PST by 26lemoncharlie (Sit nomen Dómini benedíctum,Ex hoc nunc, et usque in sæculum! per ómnia saecula saeculórum)
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To: quidnunc
When it comes to the consumer market for wine, the French were the very epitome of "fat, dumb and happy".

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.

8 posted on 01/29/2005 10:05:04 PM PST by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE)
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To: quidnunc

People have discovered that French wine, like De Beers diamonds, is overhyped.


9 posted on 01/29/2005 10:05:28 PM PST by cyborg
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To: quidnunc
Italy makes excellent wine and cheese. California and Long Island produce excellent wines as well.
This short sighted anti American pomposity of Chirac is hurting his countries economy. He will try to make a conciliatory gesture.
Remember his English is fluent and he uses a translator in interviews. This is the same trick Goering used during the Nuremburg trials. This provides additional time for spin.
10 posted on 01/29/2005 10:06:11 PM PST by Marano NYC
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To: quidnunc

Alaxander Valley all the way...our local wines are better and cheaper...


11 posted on 01/29/2005 10:07:02 PM PST by antaresequity
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To: wagglebee
Or to say that the French in general are full of merde!
Do you mean that, as containers for it, they are actually composed of different material(s)? I would severely doubt this particular point.
12 posted on 01/29/2005 10:23:23 PM PST by GSlob
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To: quantim
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

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

13 posted on 01/29/2005 10:25:46 PM PST by ccmay (Question Diversity)
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To: GSlob

Huh?


14 posted on 01/29/2005 10:28:36 PM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
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To: quidnunc

You can take this to the bank.....Won't drink French wines. I instead will buy the fine Australian wines or California wines.


15 posted on 01/29/2005 10:29:01 PM PST by ONETWOONE (onetwoone)
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To: Marano NYC
Here's the big problem for the French: wine lovers around the world are discovering wines NOT bottled in France. I've been checking a number of issues of Wine Specatator magazine and they have been talking for the last 7-8 years about excellent wines coming from Portugal and Italy in Europe, Australia and the USA which as just as good as the French wines but at much lower prices.

Small wonder why so much French wine is ending up being converted for other uses lately.

16 posted on 01/29/2005 10:31:01 PM PST by RayChuang88
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To: quidnunc
France could try making better wine at a more competitive price. The top labels will always find a buyer if for nothing more than the mystique that surrounds them. Too many french wines in the lower 80% are thin, overpriced or unmemorable.
17 posted on 01/29/2005 10:38:03 PM PST by Bob J (RIGHTALK.com...a conservative alternative to NPR!)
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To: quidnunc

The best wines come in a box!


18 posted on 01/29/2005 10:40:11 PM PST by opinionator
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To: quidnunc

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?


19 posted on 01/29/2005 10:40:53 PM PST by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href ="http://www.michaelmoore.com/"title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
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To: Owl558
No matter how hard you try, you can't dislike the French too much.

Heh. I had to read that twice, but after the second time I realized that I couldn't agree to little.
20 posted on 01/29/2005 10:43:26 PM PST by self_evident
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