Make Wine, Not War
In his impassioned defense of the French wine industry, Eric Asimov, in today’s NY Times, makes some strong points that are worth toasting. He responds intelligently to the generalized international gloating (mainly American –surprise! surprise!–) about France’s troubles in keeping it’s wine culture “modern”.
Nonetheless, no country comes close to matching France, either in setting demanding standards for its wine industry or in producing such a variety of consistently excellent wine.
…
It’s harder to imagine New World countries like the United States and Australia reaching the same pinnacle. Their leading wines, whether made of cabernet, chardonnay, shiraz or pinot noir, will always be measured against the French, and regardless of the blind tasting here or there, few people really take seriously the notion that the New World wines will surpass the French reference points on a large scale.”
This is so true. For now, and the foreseeable future, at least.
But the French, who are so habile in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, and who are feeling particularly suicidal (from a socio-political point of view) these days, might just prove us wrong in the end.
The article is here.
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