Click to be +/- on this low volume wine ping list.Oenology news ping.
Bet they got that idea from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture handout programs.
Wine? The French are making wine now? Who knew?
Click to be +/- on this low volume wine ping list.Oenology news ping.
HA HA HA HA!!
How about lowering your prices? It's called supply and demand, learn about it.
[. . .A contested new EU plan aims to downsize Europe's wine industry, shifting from distillation to ripping out huge swaths of vineyards - some 40,470 hectares of vines, or more than 10 per cent of Europe's total, over the next five years.]
Also know as "Central Planning" in the old Soviet Union.
I thought they called that french cognac
Ouch.
In Spain, I recall when wine was automatically served with your meal, like ice water here. It was included in the price of a complete meal and it was good, not great but very drinkable.
I don't understand this. You can distill wine into brandy, or something that's becoming more popular, into vodka.
As someone who at one time loved French wine, I have to say that I wouldn't drink French wine if given to me for free. I also harangue my local wine shop for selling it. I don't know if it has done some good or because people prefer wines from other countries, but the shop's stock of the stuff has gone way down. This pleases me much more than any glass of French wine with my dinner ever did.
In Italy call that same crap "Grappa" and charge up the ying-yang for it.
Bttt!
What makes the French believe for a second they can compete with amazing products coming from Australia and Chile or excellent vintages from California? Heck, I even adore Austrailian "Lindeman's" which is pretty cheap stuff, but an exceptionally palettable wine which will go with anything (at least their merlot.)
And I've said before, if there's a Chinese market to exploit, count on the Chinese to exploit it. The day after the first bottle of fine French spew lands in China, they will chemically break it down and produce a kool-aid based equivalent that will sell at 1/10 the price and taste better.
The French need to reconcile themselves with the fact that their arrogance helped to kill their market. They PO'd their customers in the US and now the free market has filled the void for people who no longer buy French. All those "wine protests" in the USA? That wasn't wine pouring, that was their industry's "blood" running down the drain. Those people found new brands and it's likely they enjoy them more than more expensive French brands. Those customers won't be returning, at least any time soon. Yet it's more than that...
Euro demographics are shifting tremendously as socialists slowly destroy European culture with uninhibited immigration policies permitting millions of non-Euros move in and not assimilate to Euro culture. The new folks don't drink French spew, they think it's filth. PC social laws have been implemented that further curtail wine consumption creating a group-think mentality againts the older culture of frequent consumption.
In short, socialist policies don't have room for wine, and the vintners are SOL if they think that's going to change any time soon. France had a nice run since we saved them in WWII. Too bad they didn't do anything with their last chance.
I'm buying Aussie Shiraz for as little as $3.99 a bottle. I don't even make a special effort to select wines right now, because it's so cheap in the supermarkets. Don't know how long this will last, but its been a great run!