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| Aussie wine elbows French aside in U.S | |
| 2003-11-05 | |
| As vintners Down Under might tell their French rivals — vive la difference, mate. In a battle pitting their upstart Yellow Tail brand against vintage Bordeaux, Australian wine makers are elbowing past the French as dominant exporters to a friendly U.S. market. Analysts attribute that reversal of fortune to the U.S. consumer's growing view of Australian wines as unpretentious and affordable. They are, in short, very un-French.
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| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #32 Chauvinism was coined from the French minister who was a total nationalist--has nothing to do with sexism |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-11-6 12:07:57 AM |
| #31 And no drunken Irishman cracks as I resemble that remark. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2003-11-5 10:29:38 PM |
| #30 Hey! I like pigs! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-5 8:25:10 PM |
| #29 Whitecollar, I'm w/you. I am an unabashed Nationalist. However, Mike & .com say JFM's on our side, they seem to be straight shooters so I'll take their word for it & quit attacking our bro' JFM - so long as he doesn't taunt me a second time! ;) Being tactful kind of sucks though - I had this great tie-in joke about pigs, truffles, and the French...... |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-5 7:57:55 PM |
| #28 I get pissy when people misuse terms that aren't deserved. No prob being Nationalist Jarhead, I'm one too. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2003-11-5 6:36:11 PM |
| #27 JFM - no offense to your mom but I won't withdraw my comment - so get over it. Maybe lighten up on the oregon chai at starbucks there wild man. Whitecollar is right, the french are not a race (the only race they've been a part of is the race to drop their guns and run), otoh this is the first time I've been accused of being a racist, I'm so hurt, oh well, guess I'll just have to deal with it. For the record, I am a proud U.S. Marine, a pro-American, and maybe that also makes me a nationalist, if so, so be it. Find me repugnent and a racist if you wish because I'm not PC, I don't really care either way. Or, as we say in the Corps - F*ck you if you can't take a joke. BTW - .com, I'm pretty sure chauvinism is the act of being discriminatory toward women, I've never been accused of that one yet but the day's not over yet bro ;) I think ethnocentric is the word your all looking for. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-5 6:29:07 PM |
| #26 JFM - the offer is still open (always will be, in fact) to start a fund to |
| Posted by: .com 2003-11-5 6:22:11 PM |
| #25 Guys: Not so rough on our friend JFM. He's on our side. |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-11-5 6:15:59 PM |
| #24 Oh,so we're not talking about racism. That word seems to have as many uses and definitions as the F word in some quarters. |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2003-11-5 6:04:19 PM |
| #23 I believe chauvinist is the apropos term. |
| Posted by: .com 2003-11-5 5:55:36 PM |
| #22 The last time I checked the French weren't a race. Maybe you meant Jarhead was being Nationalist? |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2003-11-5 5:30:52 PM |
| #21 Mr Jarhead
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| Posted by: JFM 2003-11-5 3:46:55 PM |
| #20 Someone...I don't follow baseball...so your point was wasted on me. Bottom line: There are PLENTY of good CA, Australian, Italian AND French wines....for all the reasons you stated above. But using your own point...I see no reason NOT to boycott the French. I mean, where would you rather shop? Nordstrom's or Ann Taylor's? Both have good quality...but one has a bigger and better selection. Meanwhile, I see no reason to kiss the frogs, in search of a prince.:-) |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-5 2:34:08 PM |
| #19 B: I'm not an expert at anything. There are good and bad wines at every price point, and interesting and uninteresting. There are dozens and dozens of good & interesting cheap Old World wines (I named one, as asked), and much fewer New World. Heck, it's true up and down the price spectrum -- a good $15 Rasteau (Rhone village) is IMO more interesting than pretty much any California syrah. And the inefficiencies in the distribution and marketing system keep things this way. Put it this way: do you want to be Billy Beane, or Peter Angelos? |
| Posted by: someone 2003-11-5 1:59:22 PM |
| #18 oops...it's the Merlot. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-5 1:32:26 PM |
| #17 Kissing frogs..lol! So true! Look, someone, the finest wines aren't going to be under $10. If they were so fine, the price would go up accordingly, no? So it's a dubious claim to be a wine "expert" of cheap wines. All this talk caused me to open a $5.97 bottle of Australian Black Swan 2002 at lunch. Oh sure, it''s a little tinny at first..but it's smooth, mighty fine! Not bad for $5.97. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-5 1:31:30 PM |
| #16 It's really domestic wines that are overpriced: try finding a Californian wine with actual varietal & terroir character for under $10. Blame marketing and vinters' ego for that. There are domestic bargains to be had, and not just California wines. You just gotta kiss a lotta frogs to find a prince, tho. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2003-11-5 1:05:54 PM |
| #15 B: I didn't list particulars because it all depends where you live, etc.: by their very nature these artisinal importers don't bring in a whole lot and any particular one won't distributed everywhere. But, for example, try if you can the 2001 Côtes du Forez "La Volcanique" by Odile Verdier and Jacky Logel. Gamay grown on volcanic soil, it has a wonderful stone-mineral undercurrent in its medium fruit. Couldn't be more different from Beaujolais. $9. I don't know about sulfites, though, not having that allergy myself. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-11-5 1:00:37 PM |
| #14 http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/b-db-boycottfrance.shtml |
| Posted by: Greg 2003-11-5 12:51:27 PM |
| #13 Hmmm...I notice that you didn't list any labels..just generalities. Give me the name of one REALLY good French wine, under $10 wine, that doesn't have sulfates in it, and then we'll talk. That said, I agree with you about Italy. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-5 12:29:33 PM |
| #12 B: there are many overpriced French wines (pretty much anything from Bordeaux or Burgundy, for starters), but the best values on the lower end are also from frogland. (E.g. anything grenache-based brought over by one of the artisinal importers.) It's really domestic wines that are overpriced: try finding a Californian wine with actual varietal & terroir character for under $10. Almost impossible -- the only decent ones are genericized chemically-treated fruit bombs. On the upper end, maybe a handful of domestics are worth even $50+/bottle, yet it seems any schmuck with a trendy location and cellar guy can, armed with the right Wine Speculator (er, Spectator) reviews, get away with charging $150+... Australia's not all that different. I'd say NZ is the more interesting wine area. But weren't they weasels too? That said, there's always Italy. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-11-5 11:34:32 AM |
| #11 I had a nice well-priced Romanian wine this past weekend. Having been in central and eastern Europe a number of times. I new that you could always get quality wines in country, but we are now starting to see them on U.S. shelves. This can only be good for competition. |
| Posted by: J.H. 2003-11-5 9:44:37 AM |
| #10 "(harmless to humans but not to pigs)" -JFM, maybe that's exactly why the phrogs were afraid of it. LOL! |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2003-11-5 9:43:50 AM |
| #9 French wines are like Mercedes Benzes--they're a good product, no question, but wildly overrated and overpriced. With a Benz or a French wine, about 25% of what you pay is a premium for the name brand vs. a comparable product from another supplier with less cachet. |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-11-5 9:02:45 AM |
| #8 hmmm...didn't mean my above comment to sound derogatory towards the many terrific Aussie wines...was just saying that the French over rate themselves once again. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-5 8:13:05 AM |
| #7 Well, I buy Aussie wines out of support and curiosity now and then but anyone who thinks that the overpriced(of course)French wines are better than our own domestic ones doesn't know what they are talking about. |
| Posted by: B 2003-11-5 8:04:03 AM |
| #6 Unfortunately for us patriots, Yellow Tail (any varietal) has no actual wine taste: chemical extract and wood chips seem to be the primary flavor components. For real cheap and unpretentious, though, there is Spain. Esp. what the more interesting importers are bringing over from there these days (no more 100-yr-old spineless Riojas). |
| Posted by: someone 2003-11-5 4:54:22 AM |
| #5 NMM: You seem to be as knowledgeable about Australian white wine as you are on other subjects, i.e. not very much! Young, ready to drink Australian white wines are THE best in the world. They are so far ahead of the rest that for years I have drunk nothing else. |
| Posted by: Phil_B 2003-11-5 4:13:21 AM |
| #4 While we are at it you could try Spanish Rioja wine and of course Jabugo ham who is considered best in world. Ironically, for years the French had managed to block its exporting to most of the EU alleging concerns of porcine plague (harmless to humans but not to pigs), now its consumption is considered chic in the French upper classes. Warning: outside Spain it is not precisely cheap. |
| Posted by: JFM 2003-11-5 12:51:58 AM |
| #3 Please please keep boycotting French wines! White Burgundies are bound to go down in price--more for me! Y'all can drink that Aussi swill--but if I was in a boycott France mood--I'd drink Italian pinot grigios--but I hear reds are a different animal |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-11-5 12:45:16 AM |
| #2 I had some of the Yellow Tail Shiraz at a dinner party this past summer. Very good stuff! |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-11-5 12:25:52 AM |
| #1 Here's one of those new Aussie wine buyers right here. Good stuff. :) |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2003-11-5 12:09:53 AM |