



Comments
Thanks for the article. That was entertaining as well as educational! Nice work.
saw an ad on e-bay recently that caught my eye:
For sale
french army rifle, brand new, nevr fired before, really good condition,
only dropped twice!!!
must have been WW1 and WW2
Thanks for all the comments and especially to Erwin for the irony definition. Unfortunately irony can be a dangerous thing in the hands of a less-skilled writer like myself. Therefore, I would like to clarify a few things:
1. I love the French and French food and French wine. My family was in Paris last week and had a great time. Ask my 3 year old where he wants to live and he’ll tell you “Paris”.
2. I’m sad that France is actually changing too quickly. Many of the younger generation don’t drink wine. We had lunch at Atelier Joel Robuchon and the 20-something French couple next to us ordered Cokes to wash down the amazing food. France is also the only Western country where McDonald’s is growing. I salute the traditionalists that don’t bend to fad or fashion.
3. The French wine industry has been bashed all summer in the press high and low to my dismay. This article was intended to be a love letter to them.
4." Stupid frogs" and “cheese eating surrender monkeys” are used ironically here and are not insults.
Wow…and you say the French are too arrogant, HA! Only an American can think they can change the whole French wine industry by slinging a few insults. You have lost all my respect!
irony 1 |ˈīrənē; ˈiərnē|
noun ( pl. -nies)
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect : “Don’t go overboard with the gratitude,” he rejoined with heavy irony. See note at wit.
I’m split here, I agree with some of Steve De Long’s comments—and with a name like “De Long” he’s welcome to bash Frenchiness by me and I agree with some of hte sentiments expressed by Mr. Kitto (any relation, I wonder, to the famous H.D.F. Kitto?).
The French were the high priests of the wine world for too long—they began to believe in their own mystique. Then technology, marketing, and globalization happened over a 30 year period and—presto—they find they need to work to keep up their sales. Indeed, the French have pulled out thousands of hectares of vineyards in the last few years. This year alone the EU will pay to turn about 300 million liters of wine, Frnech and Italian, into ethanol. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5105176.stm).
Some of my favorite reds are French, and I regularly drink Vouvray. It is difficult, but not impossible, to top a great French wine. Some of the great wineries of the USA buy only French oak barrels (ala Leonetti).
As for the military and diplomatic efforts of the French—there’s a horse of a different color. I’m not even sure the French know when they won their last war…but it wasn’t in the last couple of centuries.
As for cleanliness, I read somewhere once that only Americans and Japanese take a daily bath; the rest of the world baths—or showers—occasionally. I know this is true for some Asian cultures from my personal experience in their countries.
You have lost all of my respect…I’ll be taking my email address off your mailing list…American wines are just like Americans…Big, Brash, Obnoxious, one dimensional and lacking any elegance or finesse!
Dear Steve,
Re: terroir, delicate wines, and food-friendly wines.
De Long:
Not being a “vin-maniac”, but rather the son of a librarian, I loved the commentary, both for it’s context and content. I give it an A [+ missed only for spelling errors], but the IRONY was obvious right from the start!
Bon jour!
It’s too bad you taint your knowledgable report on French wine with, the only word that really works and was probably of French origin, (stupid) “stupid” comments about the American stereotypical view of French. It’s almost enough for me to not read anything else you write. Stick to your excellent wine reporting and leave the unnecessary attempts at bad humour alone. Of course the New World is following the French way of dealing with wine. The French know how to do it correctly! Once neophytes learn that there is more than “Shiraz” or “Zinfandel” (good grief) they will be very happy to learn that French wines, genrally speaking, are carefully crafted with more than one variety of grape. I lived in the Rhone region for a year and studied their wines. They are wonderful, and when I make presentations about them, the ignorant become informed and lose their fear of buying French. “Cheese-eating surrender monkeys” – puhlease!!!