[hispanarepublicana]

I think it's time for a Boston "Tea" Party in the Gulf of Mexico.

[RonF]

Sorry, but if I'm going to dump French wines I've already paid good money for, I'm going to strain it through my kidneys first.

[Weimdog]

"Viala agreed and thousands of bundles of Texas rootstocks were shipped to France to be grafted with the French vineyards. The grafting continues to this day."

Is Texas still exporting rootstocks to France?

If so, what better way to bring the French to their knees than to stop the export of Texas rootstocks and letting the ol' root virus desimate their vines.

Just a thought...

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Phylloxera
Although the 19th century is considered to be the "Golden Age" of wines in Bordeaux and Burgundy, it was not without tragedy for these regions. Around 1863 many of the French vines began to suffer from a mysterious root disease. It was soon discovered that this disease was the result of the Phylloxera aphid. Fumigation was attempted to destroy this pest, but it was too dangerous to the plants and workers to be a real solution.

Eventually it was found that Phylloxera was from America and that it attacked American vines as well. The roots of American vines were immune to the destructive power of Phylloxera. In an attempt to save their industry, European wine makers grafted their vines onto American roots, in order to make them less vulnerable to Phylloxera. Ironically, the region that may have been responsible for the mass destruction of vines in Europe, also saved it from complete ruin. Despite the eventual halt of Phylloxera, many vineyards had to be replanted and a replanting wave hit Europe in the later part of the 19th century.