Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back

A few days ago, I posted a short quip about an article concerning the state of affairs in France, the surplus of wine, and the potential solutions to remedy the situation. I did so, somewhat facetiously and figured I would leave it at that. Since then, I am finding more and more blogs that have taken this 'football' and hauled ass off in the wrong direction.

Tom at Fermentations recently posted about this and cited more than a few blogs that are doing precisely that. He took one in particular, Neural Fusion to task over some of the initial comments made. The author, Justin, then posted a response to Tom's remarks and it is here that I would like to throw in my two cents.

To his credit, Justin did do more research for his follow-up than most probably would. And he does bring up some interesting points, but then leaves a few out as well.

"According to reports, American wine consumption and imports have increased steadily for the last ten years. However, imports of French wines have been falling slowly for about five years. Chalk it up to competition. The picture gets decidedly more interesting when looking at the last two years of wine imports. French wines took a nosedive in America, falling about 25% in 2003, and an additional 11% in 2004."

There can be no way of ignoring the amount of competition that has come on the scene in the last 10 years and this would obviously have some effect on overall sales of French wine. As far as the last two years are concerned, yes the picture does get 'decidely more interesting'. Especially when you take into account the relationship (or lack thereof) between the Euro and the US Dollar. I would think this to be an integral part of this picture. Look at what the exchange rates between these two have been during this time period. It is almost a mirror image to the Franch wine sales.

"This could all be circumstantial. Maybe French wine imports to the U.S. haven't fallen by about a third because they're a bunch of back-stabbing surrender monkeys."

Nice one. I just can't get enough of comments like this and it seems that no one can talk about the French without throwing in some such line. I suppose we should take down Lady Liberty and send it back, right? And may I remind everyone that Mr. Thomas Jefferson, hero to many, god to some, was a full-blown,out of the closet, bed-wetting Franco-phile.

"Expensive wines tend to be more valued than cheap wines, French wines (tended to be) more valued than Australian wines. So, it seems the French have built a wine industry on a reputation of snobbery."

There is a reason a Ford Escort only costs $10K. And that reason is because no moron is willing to pay $11K for it. Along this thinking, I suppose Ferrari is 'King Shit' when it comes to pulling the wool over peoples' eyes. The main reason the French wines have been more valued (i.e. desired) is because of pedigree and track record. I understand it may be hard to fathom, but Australia wasn't even a bug on the windshield until recently. It is true that there are some amazing wines coming out of Australia but even still, the big dog is Grange and that is because of the history and longevity associated with the wine.

" French wines tend to cost over $20.00 a bottle. Wine.com's 90 under 20 list contains 4 French wines costing less than $20.00. California, by comparison has 25. This can most likely be chalked up to regulatory burden."

Oh boy. In a word, this is Horse shit. I am ready, capable, and more than willing (interstate laws permitting) to introduce Justin and anybody else out there to a whole slew of French wines that don't cost $20. Of course, doing anymore research than Wine.com would have made this very obvious. And speaking of Wine.com, their '90 under 20' list is based solely on ratings. Ratings from all the big boys. Another stretch I know, but to lack Parker's seal of approval plonk this does not make. There are myriad wines (and myriad reasons) that never get face time with Laube, Tanzer and the like. Of course, since most people wouldn't piss with their pants on fire unless Spectator told them it would get 87 points, I'm sure this comes as a huge surprise. And then to speak of burden? How about this for burden? Take into account simply producing a wine that is true to form and place. Then try shipping it across the ocean. But to do that, and insure that what arrives on our shores isn't really pretty vinegar, you must ship in refrigerated containers. Once in port, the Bioterrorism Law (which Justin cited for sales figures) kicks in and the wine can be hung up in the red tape for weeks. Once it gets through that, the wine then has to be trucked from NYC or Savannah or any port across the damn country, again in a 'refer' trailer. For the wine to have gone through all of this and still be available to you at $9.00 is no minor miracle. Of course, this is all predicated on the wine actually being wine instead of cutely packaged Kool-Aid. And while it's true California must deal with similar shipping issues to get their wine to Georgia, the whole pond thing is a non-issue. What French wine is good and costs 9 bucks? Delas Frères Côtes-du- Ventoux 2002. Oh yeah, I forgot, you don't even drink wine, so forget it.

And furthermore, can you really participate in a boycott of something you don't even use?

The reality is that there are many forces at work that have brought France (and the world of wine) to where it is. If it makes you feel good 'boycotting' the French, so be it. The initial 'boycott' did precious little to truly effect the French. All that wine that was passed over or poured out was already paid for by an American, maybe even your neighbor. It seems silly to me that one would forego a 'pleasure' for some sort of retribution. But then again, I can (and do)separate a people from their government. Another novel idea, maybe one to look into.