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If a country's best know export is a processed batch of grapes, then that country is probably in amidst some kind of economic doldrums.

I'm sure the wine geeks will disagree, but I prefer local wineries to store bought wine of any variety, French, German, Australian, etc.

The advantages are enormous....led by the opportunity to taste before you buy. I buy stuff I like the taste of. I was in a Kroger's the other day and they had these hundred dollar bottles of wine behind locked glass. You can bet I wouldn't drop a hundred bucks on a single bottle of wine without knowing what I was buying, but apparently some people do.

Who cares if it costs a thousand bucks and tastes blah?

Likewise, I'd rather drink a $4 bottle that I've tasted and like the flavor of. (Local wine will generally be less expensive.)

Support your local wineries. Shop around and see which are your favorites. (Here's a big Hooo-Ahhhh for 'Firelands Winery' near Port Clinton, Ohio; and for "St James Winery near Ft Leonardwood Missouri.")

New uses of French wine as reported earlier today:

"Woman Accused of Giving Lethal Sherry Enema
(Note to self: a French sherry enema works better!)

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas woman has been indicted for criminally negligent homicide for causing her husband's death by giving him a sherry enema, a police detective said on Wednesday.

Tammy Jean Warner, 42, gave Michael Warner two large bottles of sherry on May 21, which raised his blood alcohol level to 0.47 percent, or nearly six times the level considered legally drunk in Texas, police detective Robert Turner in Lake Jackson, Texas, told the Houston Chronicle.

"We're not talking about little bottles here," Turner said. "These were at least 1.5-liter bottles."

Warner, 58, was said to have an alcohol problem and received the wine enema because a throat ailment left him unable to drink the sherry, Turner told the newspaper.

"I heard of this kind of thing in mortuary school in 1970, but this is the first time I've ever heard of someone actually doing it," said Turner, who led the lengthy investigation in the case.

The woman admitted administering the enema, but denied causing her husband's death, the Chronicle said.

A dispatcher for the Lake Jackson police said only Turner could discuss the case, but he did not return phone calls from Reuters.

Along with negligent homicide, Mrs. Warner was indicted for burning her husband's will a month before his death. Both charges carry maximum penalties of two years in prison.

Mrs. Warner surrendered to police on Monday and was released on $30,000 bail, the newspaper said."