The old French Paradox used to be why they could eat whatever the hell they wanted and have such a low incidence of cardiovascular disease (think wine and olive oil). The French now find themselves in the odd situation of having to create a new French Paradox- how to be complete and total assholes to all Americans, including booing Serena Williams and jeering when the National Anthem is played, how to treat our President and Congress like crap, how to be obstructionist on the world scene and coddle every dictator, yet still have lots of American tourist come to Paris to visit and how to continue to sell lots of wine to American markets:
Something was missing from the country’s largest wine fair here last week, and it was not just the air conditioning in one of the exhibition halls (where temperatures rose so high, corks popped). The usual contingent of American wine merchants were mostly absent, confirming to many in the trade fair’s bottle-filled booths that American ill will over France’s opposition to the war in Iraq has bruised more than egos.
French wine exports to the United States, which was once French winemakers’ most promising market and is now one of their greatest competitors, are going down the drain.
“It’s clear from our American distributors that there is a hesitation to promote French wines for the time being,” said Bruno Finance, sales manager for Yvon Mau, one of Bordeaux’s largest wine merchants. He said French wine was losing ground in some other markets, “but as of today the only place there is such a big loss is in the U.S.”
I do not remember the last bottle of wine I have purchased that was made in France. They pissed me off, and I don’t care if others think it is childish if this is my only protest. I thought the ‘Freedom Fries’ nonsense was over the top- but not buying French wine hits them where it hurts. Bsides, there are plenty of fantastic wines from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and I have been drinking a great deal of those and not missed French wines one bit. I don’t think I am missing anything…