Again...we cry...
Posted on 09/05/2007 5:21:43 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Up to a third of wines sold under France's regional appellation system might be from an entirely different region, according to a French consumers' group.
The Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, or AOC, once a gold stamp of origin and quality, is fast turning into a national joke, UFC-Que Choisir said.
It claimed this was due in large part to AOC award panels made up of local wine professionals with vested interests.
Unscrupulous "judges" on local panels were accused of giving lesser wines the prestigious AOC label in the face of increasing competition from New World wines, whose world market share has risen sharply in recent years.
Slack controls saw 99 per cent of all candidate wines awarded their AOC label in 2005.
As a result, a third of AOC wines were "sub-standard" and of dubious geographical origin, UFC found.
Alain Bazot, the head of UFC, said: "For a number of years, we've seen a steady fall in quality in a number of AOCs, which has undermined consumer confidence."
The association called on the national appellation institute to take urgent steps to correct the situation, preferably by removing fraudulent or poor quality wines from AOC lists. It warned that it may be "the last chance" for the system to reform.
AOC wines, which come from 470 regions, account for 44 per cent of all French wine production, a share that has doubled since the 1970s.
This is not the first time the label system has been hit by controversy. Last year, the French wine producer credited with almost single-handedly transforming Beaujolais Nouveau into a global phenomenon was found guilty of mixing low grade wine with top vintages.
Georges Duboeuf, 72, the self-styled "King of Beaujolais," was convicted for "fraud and attempted fraud concerning the origin and quality of wines". He was fined 30,000 euros.
In 2005, British wine drinkers consumed around 1.7 billion bottles.
But between 2001 and 2005, the volume of French imports fell by eight per cent, while imports of Australian wines rose by 51 per cent, taking over from France at the top of the import list.
Imports from the USA more than doubled, while imports from South Africa rose by more than 50 per cent.
Such figures have plunged the French wine industry into crisis.
Sales in France - which still account for about two thirds of national wine production - have dwindled, hit by nationwide anti-alcohol campaigns and stricter drink-driving laws.
Chronic overproduction has exacerbated the problem, with the European Union being called in to pay for surplus wine to be distilled into pure alcohol.
Now the French wine industry is bracing itself for its smallest harvest in 20 years, hit by a summer of storms and plant diseases brought on by wet weather.
Many vineyards, particularly those growing organic grapes, have been wiped out by mildew.
Y’all may laugh, but I’ll stick to collecting Texas wines with my occasional California Opus 1 or Screaming Eagle.
It’s wrong to drink frog wine.
Thirty years ago I worked in a German winery. We sold tank truck loads of wine to the French that they then bottled as their own.
Remember winegate back in late 70’s? They got caught mixing in cheap Algerian wine.
Now days when I buy a bottle of wine to go with dinner I buy American. It’s kinda’ fun going to a big store and looking through all the wines from around the country.
wine ping
Why would anybody drink French wine?
If you want good wine read this before you stock up, you want go wrong! http://www.winespectator.com:80/Wine/Home/
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