163 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
163 lines
4.7 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
foodanddrink
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wine
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7370187
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-----
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# French wine: The Gallic resistance
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## French wine is all about value over volume. And who cares if we are losing
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out at the cheapest level?
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![Gallic wines: French wines are falling behind in terms of sales volumes in
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Britain][1]
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Slim pickings? French wines are falling behind in terms of sales volumes in
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Britain Photo: ALAMY
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By Jonathan Ray 6:07PM GMT 04 Mar 2010
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[Comments][2]
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Pity the poor French. Their wine sales are in freefall (down 12-16 per cent on
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last year, depending on which figures you believe) and only this week they
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suffered the further ignominy of being overtaken by South Africa in terms of
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volume of sales in Britain. And, as we all know, the French have lagged
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similarly behind Australia for years. Oh, and California and Italy. Mon Dieu,
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qu'est-ce qu'il se passe?
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Chris, my wine-loving neighbour, isn't surprised. He gave up drinking French a
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year ago and hasn't looked back.
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"I felt I was being continually ripped off," he says. "The wines seem
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overpriced compared to others and the French continue to be wilfully obtuse by
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refusing to put grape varieties on the label. I'm far happier with New World
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wines and the occasional Rioja or Barolo."
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His wife, Sally, though, would rather drink nothing but French wine - they are
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the Mr and Mrs Jack Spratt of wine lovers.
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"There is just so much variety," she explains. "From Alsace to the Languedoc,
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the Rhone to Bordeaux, with hundreds of different grape varieties and styles.
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They have centuries of expertise and I never tire of them. I think Chris is a
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mug."
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Well, since Chris has got me tickets to the rugby, I won't hear a word against
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him. But he's a mug. I couldn't be as extreme as Sally and stick solely to
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French wine, but nor could I ever give it up completely. What, no more
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champagne? Cru classe claret, Alsace riesling or Loire chenin? And what about
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the treasures of the Rhone and the Languedoc?
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As with food, a healthy diet is a varied diet and I will continue to
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intersperse the former with my New Zealand sauvignons, California zinfandels
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and swanky Tuscans.
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Besides, the figures currently bandied about are misleading, for France still
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sells more wine in Britain by value than anyone else - some £728?million worth
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last year - and Britain remains its biggest export market, ahead of the United
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States by a nose.
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Bear in mind that where the French have lost volume of sales is in the entry-
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level category (under £5 a bottle). If this is what we're losing out on, who
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cares? There is little profit for the producers here and very little value to
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be had for the consumer. In the £5-£10 bracket, however, France is doing well
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and catching up with Australia.
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France continues to make great wine - just wait until you taste some of the
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2009 clarets - but fails miserably to market them well. Unlike South Africa,
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say, or Chile, Australia or New Zealand, all of whom have well?funded generic
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bodies in Britain promoting their wines, France doesn't. Each region wants to
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be master of its own destiny rather than band with others to promote France as
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a whole. The very diversity that makes France so attractive to wine lovers
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makes it impossible to market in an orderly fashion.
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And times are changing. New regulations come in to force on August 1 which
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will create a new category - Vin de France. This will allow greater
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flexibility as to which grape varieties might be used where and - Chris will
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be happy - will permit whichever variety to be spelt out on the label. A
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positive step, this, which can only help France compete better against the New
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World.
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Allez les Bleus!
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**RELATED PRODUCT**
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[**Buy french wine at _wine.telegraph.co.uk_![][3]**][4]
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[X][5] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][6]
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* Share: [Share][5] [ ][7] [ ][8]
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[Tweet][9]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/7370187/Gallic-wine-The-French-
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resistance.html
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Telegraph
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## [Wine][10]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][11]
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* ### [Food and Drink »][12]
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* ### [Editor's Choice »][13]
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In food-and-drink
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[![Cool change: Burgundy vineyards in winter][14]][15]
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### [Telegraph Wine Shop][15]
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[![Burgandy cellars][16] ][17]
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### [2009 Vintage: Burgundy best in a barrel][17]
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[X][5] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][6]
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Share:
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* [ ][5]
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* [ ][7]
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* [ ][8]
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* [Tweet][9]
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* Advertisement
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![][18]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][19] [blog
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