Business Week article

[joeyz6]

Foodie, I agree with you -- the French system is wonderful and romantic and charming and traditional and all those great things, and the labels tell a lot to experts like yourself. But it's not clear to the average, novice wine buyer what he or she is getting. Now that doesn't mean, of course, that the buyer should resort to another country's wine. If we had it our way, everyone would keep trying vineyards until they found something they like, and they'd learn to differentiate the varieties. But it might be a little unrealistic to hope that everyone would do that.

What do you mean when you say that France has more competition, did you mean WITHIN France or from abroad? The latter is obviously correct, but I question if you mean to use the word "competition" when you speak of French wines in France. France grows more and more socialist every election (Paris, for example, is now controlled by that party), and open-market capitalism is not currently a prominent part of the French economy (unfortunately, in my opinion). If the smaller vineyards of Bordeaux don't have a chance to attain cru classe status, even if they're magnificent, then that's not a free market, is it? It's just not an even playing field.

If I'm getting too political, stop me -- I don't want to overstep any boundries or offend anyone.

[This message has been edited by joeyz6 (edited 09-05-2001).]

[This message has been edited by joeyz6 (edited 09-05-2001).]