Traditional methods have stood France in good stead for centuries
but it now exports fewer bottles than Italy and Spain and is losing
ground to Australia
Posted on 05/29/2008 9:01:10 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
After long scorning the international appetite for “vulgar” wine, France joined the fray yesterday and allowed growers to make and market their product in the fruity fashion of the New World.
Wood chips, added tannin and other “foreign” techniques will be tolerated in a new category of mid-quality wine that will be defined by grape variety rather than origin.
Traditional methods have stood France in good stead for centuries
but it now exports fewer bottles than Italy and Spain and is losing
ground to Australia
In a heresy for traditionalists this means, for example, that you may grow gewurtztramminer, the classic Alsace white, anywhere in France and sell it as gewurtztramminer in the new Wine of France category.
Under the law the main label on a bottle will identify the wine as merlot, cabernet, grenache, chardonnay or other variety, as well as mentioning its vintage.
President Sarkozy and his Cabinet approved the measures as part of a five-year plan to win back market share from the all-conquering Californian and southern hemisphere wines. With its antiquated classification and concentration on the mystique of le terroir — the soil and traditions of the vineyard — France has lost out in the past 15 years as world consumption has risen.
The New World has won drinkers over with what the French regard as simple, standardised fruit-forward wines with brand names. Supermarket shoppers prefer labels with Australian marsupials to Appellation d'origine contrôlée from obscure villages with six syllables. “French wine is complicated and often little understood,” the Agriculture Ministry said.
While it might raise some purist eyebrows the scheme has caused little offence. “I have faith in the savoir faire of French winemakers,” said Jean Claude Ruet, chief sommelier at the Paris Ritz hotel. “We will not fall as low as the Americans, who make vin rosé that is sugary and fizzy like soda.”
France, once the world's wine reference, now exports fewer bottles than Italy and Spain. It was overtaken by Australia in the British market three years ago. Thanks to the high-quality products of Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy, France still dominates the €17.4 billion (£14 billion) market in value, with 35 per cent compared with 25 per cent for the New World. The fight is now on for new wine drinkers in India and China.
The French industry generally approved the measures, which have been drawn up in the past two years.
Producers insisted that the system aims to boost “entry-level” wines while keeping old restrictions on the quality AOC category. “It's a way of giving new consumers a taste for wine,” Mr Ruet said. He was doubtful however about the merits of adding oak shavings to wine made in steel vats to add a woody flavour.
Jerome Agostini, director of the National Committee of the Wine Professions, said: “Young generations of consumers need simpler wines that are easy to drink, sweet and aromatised. You cannot condemn practices like wood chips because we have to fight with the same weapons.”
The Wine of France is being created along with two other categories. The second one will correspond to a specific area and the third will cover the AOC appellation, of which there are 457.
Many critics say that the revered 75-year-old AOC system is in dire need of reform. In September experts commissioned by Que Choisir, the leading consumer organisation, decided that one third of AOC wines should be stripped of their appellations. “The AOC label is no longer a guarantee of quality or a link to terroir,” it said.
Sections of the French industry have already been adopting New World methods to fight back. The Languedoc region of the Mediterranean has been particularly successful, importing New World vintners and playing up grape varieties.
Some have gone as far as inventing “critter labels” to compete with Australia's Yellow Tail and assorted other parrots and wallabies. These include Rhôning Stones and Bois-Moi (Drink Me). A French Languedoc wine sold 1.3 million bottles to Australia last year under the brand of Arrogant Frog.
Actually French Pinot Noir is a better value than domestic. I am afraid that I’ve been priced out or Oregon Pinot. And Burgundian charodonnay is hard to beat.
At least Champagne is from a clearly French region, not a German wine from a region that was historically German.
The traditional wino's wine.
Just yappin'... I dunno - I just drink the stuff. By the gallons...
Well de gustibus non est disputandem (trans. if you don’t like it, go ahead and spit), but if I were a philanthropist billionaire, I’d invite you to a tour of any (and all) of the “strade del vino” wine roads of Italy...
Happiness and 150 kgs more on the waistline guaranteed (for in Italy at least, where there is wine there is food).
And unless terribly unlucky, you’ll have none of the headaches those new-fangled French wines with their funky ingredients will cause.
The first thing Pope Benedict said after he was elected: “I am a humble worker of the Lord’s vineyard”... the poetic co-relation between good and proper winemaking and life is astounding. And the fact that the French will allow “cheating” to recoup market share tells a long and very sad story about their so-called enlightnement (Liberté, fraternité et avidité! But its best talked about over a Brunello or a Barolo!
Salute!
About a year ago Yellow Tail had a billboard up along my route to work with a beautiful young woman holding the bottle. She was pretty apparently of mixed European/African ancestry.
I thought this was absolutely hilarious, but it wasn’t up long and was taken down before I could get a picture.
However, I recently found the image on the web. Here’s a link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/feministmd/370253585/in/set-72157594501605979/
For several centuries now Alsace has been French or German depending on who won the last war.
It is only fair to point out that while most Alsatians speak German, they consider themeselves to be French patriots.
Sorry. It seems most Alsatians now speak French.
I take that complement. I represent that remark...
You are correct! French have been using American rootstocks for over 100 years. America to the rescue again :-)
The problem being is that Malbec has gone up in price thanks to the weak dollar and high demand in the US (you can usually find several Malbecs on the winelists of the major US steakhouses these days). Nevertheless, a $15 Malbec Reserva is a much better value than a $40 Bordeaux or Napa Cabernet for that matter.
The closet I ever get to fruity reds is an occassional Beaujolais Nouveau. For Cabs, Merlots, and Malbecs that can actually stand up to heavier foods, I still content that Chile and Argentina present the best values.
New Zealand has some OUTSTANDING Savignon Blanc. May I recommend Jackson Estates?
Very few people even speak Catalan/Occitan in SW France anymore, whereas in Spanish Catalonia, that is all they speak outside of Barcelona as an everyday language.
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