Bye-Bye Bordeaux

Forbes ^ | May 9, 2005 | Brendan Coffey

[quidnunc]

The Lurton brothers are breaking into the U.S. market by abandoning French tradition. Uruguayan tannat, anyone?

Pity the French wine industry. Since entering the new century on a high with one of the most hyped Bordeaux vintages in two decades, nothing has gone its way. French wine consumption, while tops in the world, has slipped 10% since 1999, according to Vinexpo/ISWR. By 2008 look for it to fall another 7% as younger French drinkers switch to beer and spirits for their joie de vivre.

The export picture is ugly, too. There has been a three-year decline in sales in the U.S., France's second-biggest export market, partly because of the backlash to France's stance in the Iraq war. And the euro's strength has made bottles pricier for loyal drinkers elsewhere. To top it all off, Australia is grabbing market share.

"The competition is bigger and bigger, with a simple message. The French, we have a complex message," says François Lurton, of Jacques & François Lurton, a wine company in Varyes, France that he owns with his brother, Jacques. "In the U.S. a new generation of consumers has come to wine, and they are not educated enough to understand the complex message of European wine," he explains.

That complexity is represented by the wines made in Burgundy and Bordeaux, which operate under the AOC system (controlled appellations that are in reality brand cooperatives). Because of strict rules winemakers in the AOC system don't have the option of making vin de pays or vin de table wines, which are of a simpler style often favored by Americans. The system is also plagued by bad producers that are killing the image of AOCs. "The consumer accepts there are different brands from a region, but there are so many variations of quality that it has bred resistance and suspicion," says François.

-snip-

[PAR35]

I prefer whites from the Mosel and surrounding valleys. You don't have to wait long for them, and they have a pleasant taste. It also helps that I know how to read German wine labels, and I have never learned for the other countries.

I use reds primarily for cooking.

I'll freely admit that my tastes are unsophisticated, but I rarely drink anyway.

[Clemenza]

I drink a glass everyday. 90% of the time it is red, either Cab, Pinot Noir or Zinfandel, depending on what's for dinner. I've also become fond of Grenache and Tempranillo blends from Spain as of late.

Only time I drink whites is with shellfish. Sad to say that the only white that goes with oysters is Chablis from you know where.

[Victor]

I like Tempranillo as well.

Try a bottle of Codice, 2-4 years old. Typically about $12; excellent.Cabernet alter-ego.

[ml/nj]

You just keep drinking your Gallo! (Or the Austrailian swill.)

ML/NJ

[winner3000]

(The unsophisticated Americans buy and drink wines that taste good, without regard to the elements which should be taken into account in judging a fine wine, including the proper balance between a sour and a bitter taste.)

You almost killed me!

[quantim]

Click to be added!

Thanks, NN.  Wine news ping.

[bfree]

"-- EU to pay France, Spain to distil "wine lakes" --
BRUSSELS, April 29 (Reuters) - Winemakers France and Spain
will receive 145 million euros ($187.4 million) in EU cash to
distil their "wine lakes" into industrial alcohol or biofuel,
the EU's executive said on Friday. "

Now here's good use for it.

[1Old Pro]

I refuse to drink French wine. Too many fantastic other wines to choose from.

[Sthitch]

All of the hyperbole aside, I believe that the problem the French are having could be solved with a quick lesson in economics. The French have not seemed to learned about laws of supply and demand. The market is still saturated with '01 and '02 Bordeaux's at unsellable prices. So what do the fine wine makers (and I do believe that they make very fine wines) do? They release the mediocre '03 at a significant premium over previous vintages. It would be understandable if '03 were another 2000 or '82, but it was not. It was a serviceable, but forgettable year for Bordeaux's.
French wine makers do not realize that in the rest of the world they are quickly losing market share to the Aussie's, Americans, and Spanish. Why? Because they never see these wines in their local markets. They exclude all but a few foreign wines from their shelves. If the French were allowed access to the wines from around the world, they would see what else is available, and the French wine makers would be forced to compete. Now they still sell enough on their wines in the closed markets of France so that every bottle sold outside of the country is profit.

[NautiNurse]

A crisp chilled Sauv blanc or Pinot Gris is just as good as a margarita on a warm afternoon while lounging by the pool.

[discostu]

Wine has a message? Dude if your wine is talking to you it's definitely time to join AA.

[small voice in the wilderness]

and they are not educated enough to understand the complex message of European wine," he explains.

Maybe. But we ARE educated enough to understand the mad rantings of Chirac and a totally unwarranted bitch slap toward the United States and especially our military. It's a complex message of European WHINEs that we are rejecting. Put a cork in it, France.

[ElPatriota]

Could it be that Americans, are also refraining from buying any french products. I know, I don't buy anything 'f'rench, just to screw them!

the french, unlike the English, are not our friends.

[andrew2527]

There exists a very interesting blend of Spanish Tepranillo and Italian Sangiovese called Plenum. Its available most everywhere (obviously not in a supermarket,) but is a rather good bargain at $20-25.

Also in regards to oysters, try a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The two tend to work well together IMO.

[Renfield]

If you haven't tried the better Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand, you should rush out and get some. Most of my wine dollar nowadays goes to these gems. Isabel is my favorite, but Kim Crawford and Matua make wonderful Sauvignon Blancs as well (the latter is a screaming buy at under $10 per bottle!!!) Isabel will knock your socks off!!

Aside from the occasional Pinot Noir from California, almost every bottle I buy nowadays comes from the Southern hemisphere. I drink Shiraz and Cabernet from Australia, merlot from Chile, and the aforementioned S.B. from New Zealand. I plan to explore Argentinian Malbecs next.

I quit drinking French wines years ago. I find them to be austere, thin, and heavy on the aldehydes.

[GnL]

Also in regards to oysters, try a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The two tend to work well together IMO.

Just last night I had the 2003 Nobilo Icon Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with a plate of Chesapeake Bay oysters on the half shell. Yummy.

[CobaltBlue]

With raw oysters, you drink beer. Anything else is grotesque.

And nobody who appreciates the taste of a good oyster eats them any way but raw.

I mean, you wouldn't cook caviar, would you? Or sushi?

[CobaltBlue]

Wine and oysters?

Peasant!

[Tunehead54]

The funniest thing in this whole article and every post so far is that the word "boycott" is absent. I have had my hands on a nice french brie several times and having tried American and Canadian versions ALMOST bought one - but then I think of how many lives could have been saved if the world presented a united front against Iraq. No Brie, no Veuve Cliquot champagne - its tough but you do what you have to do.

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;-)

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I like seeing our boycott having a serious effect and they still haven't a clue. ;-)

[GnL]

With raw oysters, you drink beer. Anything else is grotesque.

Let me guess--you drink Bud (in a can, not a bottle) with your oysters, with a sack of pork rinds for dessert. Close?