Posted on 11/27/2006 11:34:11 PM PST by MadIvan
MORE than eight million litres of this season's production of Beaujolais wine is being turned into near-pure alcohol for use in disinfectants, cleaning products or fuel additives, as French vineyards face up to a massive overproduction crisis.
A chronic wine glut, falling domestic consumption and fierce overseas competition have converged to create a wine crisis on an unprecedented scale. With "lakes" of unsold wine threatening to undermine prices, the European Union has resorted to paying vintners to destroy some of their stock each year, distilling billions of bottles of perfectly drinkable wine into pure alcohol.
Sceptics say the measure, which cost EU taxpayers 150 million (£100 million) last year alone, is merely a quick fix that does not get to the root of the problem - which is that Europe simply produces too much wine for too few consumers.
A new plan aims to fix at least the production side by downsizing Europe's wine industry by ripping out huge swaths of vineyards. Some 100,000 acres of vines, more than 10 per cent of Europe's total, could be lost over the next five years across Spain, France and Italy.
But as more wine is distilled each year - reaching 2.8 billion litres in 2005 - even the most virulent opponents of the EU plan acknowledge that something has got to give. "For years, we shrugged the crisis off as a temporary downturn," said Gilles de Longevialle, who heads a group representing the vintners of Beaujolais. "But we're beginning to see it's here to stay."
Until last year, so-called "crisis distillations" were considered only for the cheapest table wines. Now, quality wines are also boiled away in large quantities.
So for the second autumn in a row, Philippe Terrollion, director of the Beaujolais Distillery in central-eastern France, sent out a fleet of lorries to pick up an expected 8.5 million litres of unbottled, unsold Beaujolais. That's enough to fill about 125 swimming pools.
"For vintners, the decision to distil is a hard one," Mr Terrollion said. "But in the end, they have to do it to get rid of the old stuff to make room for the new."
With funds from the EU and local authorities, Mr Terrollion paid vintners the EU-fixed price of about 35 cents (24p) per litre - about one-fifth of the average price paid by wholesalers for bottled wine sold for consumption.
The problem is, the wine just doesn't sell. European vintages are languishing on the shelf as consumers around the globe reach for bottles from New World producers in the likes of Chile, Australia and South Africa. Louis-Fabrice Latour, who heads the Louis Latour label in Burgundy, admitted a feeling of superiority had made them slow to react. "In France, we used to think we were the biggest and best and no-one could touch us," he said.
The wine-makers warn against tearing out vineyards, saying that would effectively tie their hands and prevent them from adapting to a changing world market. They point to India and China - where an emerging middle-class is beginning to acquire taste for wine. "When the Chinese really get into wine, demand for our product is going to explode to the point where if we cut back today, we might not be able to fill it," Mr de Longevialle said.
But with distilleries working overtime, nearly everyone admits the status quo is not viable. "It's clear we can't go on like this," Mr Terrollion said. "But we can't just snuff out wine-making, especially in a region like ours. Wine runs in our veins."
• WINE consumption is down across Europe, with Italy and France leading the decline.
In 1980, the French and the Italians each consumed about 5 billion litres of wine a year, according to the European Commission. By 2005, yearly consumption in both countries had dipped to roughly 3 billion litres.
Many French vintners blame tougher laws aimed at curbing drinking and driving for the country's precipitous decline in wine consumption. In 1960, the average Frenchman drank 3.1 bottles of wine per week. Today, the average intake is 1.4 bottles per week and falling, according to Michel Baldassini, who heads the main Burgundy wine growers' association.
Once a French dietary staple as fundamental as bread or cheese, wine is increasingly regarded, and treated, as a luxury product, Mr Baldassini said.
The change is hurting middle market regions like Beaujolais while favouring the vineyards of Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy - the prestigious regions on which Europe is betting its winemaking future.
Mmmm, yes! My parents recently moved to Seneca Lake and took me on a few wine tours when I visited this summer. We were all pleasantly surprised by the quality of it (I don't know why but we were all thinking they might be kind of cheapo--wrong! Shame on us, since we're actually from the area). I especially liked Dr. Frank's wines. Oh, and Belhurst! They had one of the best wines I've ever tasted, I think it was the Bordeaux Blend, can't remember.
Check it out folks, it's good!
http://www.fingerlakeswinecountry.com/
Sheltered life? There's an American boycott of anything French -- including cheese.
"In 1960, the average Frenchman drank 3.1 bottles of wine per week. Today, the average intake is 1.4 bottles per week and falling, according to Michel Baldassini, who heads the main Burgundy wine growers' association."
Muslims don't drink wine.
It can't be an official boycott since French goods are still available here.
I've already been branded un-American in Francophobe threads because I refuse to be bossed around and told what I can or cannot buy in order to "prove" my patriotism, so je m'en fou.
Incidentally, the most hated people in France are Parisians, especially the enarques, graduates of the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. These are the busy-bodies who govern France and create anti-American-Anglo crises in order to cover their own ignorance and fear of reality, and their self-enriching corruption.
Theodore Dalrymple has an interesting series in the English Review entitled Journey Across France. Reading it, you might become more sympathetic to the helplessness and frustration of the ordinary French citizen.
Wow, I have never heard that one---that all drinkers tend to think all non-drinkers drink "in private." News to me!
Anyway, I can assure you that I, at least, have never thought that. Rather I have always thought that most non-drinkers were . . . non-drinkers.
However, I was stationed in the Middle East once and was privy to much of its private culture. I guess b/c drinking was so socially inappropriate, I only saw drinking in private. By private I mean at private parties, even if many other people including Americans were present; in private dinner rooms in all the international hotels, etc.
It was far from a teetotaller culture. It wasn't uncommon at all for Americans to be asked over for drinks.
Sorry, that's http://www.newenglishreview.org.
Messina Hoff
Llano Estacado
Fall Creek
I highly recommend Fall Creek's chardonney, Messina Hoff's Gertwitztrominer, and Llano Estacado's Granite Blush
Never take one Baptist fishing with you because he'll drink all of your beer. Instead take two Baptists and neither one will drink it.
A spontaneous general boycott of all things French (wine, cheese, etc.) started in the run-up to the Iraq war when the French government not only failed to support us in the war, but *actively undermined* our position, both on the ground in the Middle East and at the U.N.
I do not expect our "friends" to agree on every issue, especially one as fickle politically as war. But I do expect our "friends" to respect our decisions as to what we need to do to defend our country, in the short- and long-term, and stay the hell out of the way if they disagree.
The anger at the French government was palpable---many being personally touched by family members who fought to liberate France, for one thing---and many have never gone back to buying French products. After a while, one becomes comfortable with the new items on the shopping list and there's no reason to go back--even if (big IF) the political passion subsides.
I don't know what, in your mind, would be an "official" boycott, but those who are offended by the hostility of France's leadership toward the US have made their sentiments known.
Mustard Dijon is famous for its mustard, even though nowadays around 90% of all mustard seeds used are imported, mainly from Canada. The term Dijon mustard (moutarde de Dijon) designates a method for the making of mustard. Traditional Dijon mustard is particularly strong. Most Dijon mustard (brands such as Amora or Maille) is produced industrially, but the town also specializes in exotic or unusually-flavored mustard, often sold in decorative hand-painted faïence (china) pots. In non-European markets such as the United States the name "Dijon mustard" is not trademarked. The only way to be sure you are getting real Dijon mustard is to buy a jar that was imported from France; however, true Dijon mustard in exotic flavors can be difficult to find outside France.
P.S. I'm big into not buying French products, but I do believe a jar of mustard every couple of years is acceptable. :)
Include me in that 10%. I used to purchase French wines--but I never will again. Napa Valley Merlots and Cabs are just as good anyway.
LOL!
Yeah, I think you're right.
A large jar of Maille (every couple of years) is doable.
The boycott probably has some effect; but as someone who lived the past 5-years in Chile, I can say that Chilean and Argentinean wines are having a big impact on the world market. Chilean and Argie wines are very good and very cheap. I seek them out at local markets and would never consider a European wine over a good Chilean wine.
Also, France's production costs are way higher than the "New World" producers. I recently read that in France, one worker tends 2-hectares of vineyard, where in Australia and Chile one worker tends about 10-hectares. The French just can not compete economically. I toured a two-year old winery in Chile earlier this year and it was a world-class facility...everything state of art, owned by one of the wealthies families in Chile. The Chileans are doing joint-ventures with North American producers and are aggresively marketing their wines world wide.
Regards
Hey France - you suck - Muslims won't drink your wine but that's who you are stuck with.
Some New Zealand wines are excellent as well.
My SIL just made a women salmon dish with a Dijon mustard glaze for Thanksgiving and I didn't turn it down! :)
Just pour a nice New World wine with it and some New World cheese on the side and you're good to go!
Now you've got me hungry. Dang.
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