U.S. taste for French wine: soured?

Sales of French wine off by nine percent in April according to Information Resources which tracks actual retail sales (i.e., doesnt conduct surveys).

No more french wine or other french liquor from me. I drink california and Georgia (ex ussr republic) wines and in vodkas I have switched from Grey Goose to Ketel One.

Lots and lots of very good Australian wine out there at a very reasonable price. Viva Australia

Jacques Thebault, president of Sopexa for the Americas, a New York marketing agency for the Bordeaux Wine Council, told The Washington Times that he expects a slowdown in sales, likely caused by a combination of the currency exchange rate and a short-term change in consumer sentiment.

Perhaps I can help Mr. Thebault understand the PERMANENT change in consumer sentiment:

1. french President Jacques Chirac, personally helped Iraq begin its nuclear program.
2. france assisted China in shipping raw materials for chemical weapons to Iraq through Syria.
3. french security services helped suppress opposition groups seeking to depose Saddam Hussein.
4. The french had supplied Iraq with precision switches for nuclear weapons.
5. french companies had resupplied Iraq with spare parts for fighter jets on the eve of the March 2003 invasion. Intelligence reports indicated that Iraq was able to obtain French military spare parts for its Mirage jets and Gazelle attack helicopters in violation of U.N. sanctions.
6. The french helped Iraqi officials escape U.S. capture by issuing them EU passports. The passports allowed the Iraqis to evade detection by U.S. military and intelligence agencies because they were EU travel documents.
7. Intelligence officials said France attempted to conclude an oil deal with Saddam's government days before U.S. military action began March 19.
8. The french peddled disinformation against the Americans before the war -- this is a war for oil, Resolution 1441 does not authorize military action, George Bush is "cowboy," etc. -- at the very least, they now deserve some of their own.

france had an unemployment rate of 9.3% last month (April 03). It’s rising. Can we help them push it over 10%? 20%?. The new reality show on FOX this fall could be the marxists, socialists, and fundamentalist muslim imports (they are about 10% of the population and growing) burning paris to the ground. You can help:

WE SHOULD NEVER FORGET!

Gotta keep this alive. Share this link with all like minded family and friends. They are feeling the heat.

15000 french products that you can boycott:

http://howtobuyamerican.leethost.com/b-db-boycottfrance.shtml

A short refresher course:

A list of French companies products to boycott. Some are well known, but many are not. Here goes.

It lists French products to boycott. You will probably be surprised to learn the French own everything from Wild Turkey to Car & Driver to Motel 6 to cheesy Spencer Gifts to disgusting Democrat schlock-show host Jerry Springer.

Air France
Airbus
Alcatel - Based in Paris France
Allegra (Allergy Medication) - Produced by Aventis Pharmaceuticals based in Strasbourg, France
Aqualung (Including: Spirotechnique, Technisub, US Divers, and SeaQuest)
AXA Advisors
Bank of the West - Owned by BNP Paribas
Beneteau (boats)
BF Goodrich - Owned by Michelin
BIC (Razors, Pens & Lighters) - Started in 1945 by Marcel Bich. Originally based just outside of Paris. Began trading on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1972. 40.5% Publicly traded. Bich family still owns 33.5%.
Biotherm (Cosmetics)
Black Bush
Bollinger (Champagne)
Car & Driver Magazine
Cartier
Chanel
Chivas Regal (Scotch)
Christian Dior
Club Med (Vacations) - Owned in part by Paris based CDC (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations)
Culligan (owned by Vivendi)
Dannon (Yogurt & Dairy Foods)
DKNY - LVMH acquired 100% of Gabrielle Studio Inc., the privately owned licenser of Donna Karan trademarks back in 2001.
Dom Perignon
Durand Crystal
Elle Magazine
Essilor Optical Products
Evian
Fina Oil - Billions invested in Iraqi Oil fields
First Hawaiian Bank
Focal (Car speakers)www.focal-jmlab.fr
George Magazine
Givenchy
Hennessy
Houghton Mifflin (books)
International Herald Tribune - 181 ave Charles-de-Gaulle - F-92521 Neuilly - FRSource:World Business Council for Sustainable Development '00 [Domain Registration], [Corporate Profile]
Jacobs Creek - Owned by Pernod Ricard since 1989
Jameson (wiskey)
Jerry Springer (talk show)
JMLab (Speakers)www.focal-jmlab.fr
Krups (coffee and cappaccino makers)
Lancome
Le Creuset (Cookware)
L'Oreal (Health & Beauty Products)
Louis Vuitton
Marie Claire
Martel Cognac
Maybelline
Méphisto (Footwear & Apparel)
Michelin (Tires & Auto Parts) - Their phone number is: (33) 1 45 66 15 53 in France
Mikasa Crystal and Glass (purchased by ARC int'l in 2001)
Moet (Champagne
Motel 6 - 33, Avenue du Maine- 75755 Paris Cedex 15 France
Motown Records
MP3.com
Mumms (Champagne)
Nissan (Cars) - Majority owned by Renault
Nivea
Normany Butter
Parents Magazine
Peugeot (Automobiles) - Pronounced "Pooh Joe", must be French
Pierre Cardin
Playstation Magazine
ProScan - Owned by Thomson Electronics, France
Publicis Group (Including: Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising) - Here's a French connection that'll tick ya off--a couple years ago Publicis bought the Leo Burnett Advertising agency and that agency does the "Go Army" campaign. Sickening ain't it?
RCA (televisions & electronics) - Owned by Thomson Electronics
Red Magazine
Red Roof Inns - Owned by the Accor group based in France
Renault (Automobiles)
Road & Track Magazine
Roquefort Cheese - All Roquefort cheese is made in France
Rowenta (Toasters, Irons, Coffee makers, etc)
Royal Canadian
Salomon (Skis)
Seagram's Gin
Sierra Software and Computer Games
Smart & Final
Sofitel (Hotels) - Owned by the Accor group based in France
Sparkletts (Water) - Owned by Danone, based in France
Spencer Gifts
Sundance Channel
Taylor Made (Golf)
Technicolor
T-Fal (Kitchenware)
The Glenlivet (Scotch
Total Gas Stations
Triangle (Speakers)www.triangle-fr.com
UbiSoft (Computer Games)
Uniroyal
Uniroyal Tires - Owned by Michelin
Universal Studios (Music, Movies & Theme Parks) - Universal Studios is owned by Vivendi-Universal, headquartered in Paris France
USFilter
Veritas Group
Veuve Clicquot Champagne
Vittel
Vivendi - Vivendi Headquarters, Paris France
Wild Turkey (bourbon)
Woman's Day Magazine
Yoplait - France-based Sodiaal owns a 50% stake of Yoplait
Yves Saint Laurent
Yema watches
Zodiac Inflatable Boats

Please add to the list and email to your like-minded friends.

I'll drink french wine when I run out of aftershave.

It should have fallen a lot more than that!! Only 9 %??!! All I can say is that wine drinkers sure can't put their money where their mouth is.

I quit buying French wine. That alone accounts for half of the 9% drop.

>>>>>Lots and lots of very good Australian wine out there at a very reasonable price. Viva Australia >>>>>>

Yes Australian wine... some of the best in the world.

Hardy's and Penfolds are superb. My family has a vineyard in Australia and produce grapes for Hardy's Nottage Hill, Shiraz. Penfold's reds are incredible.

not a big wine drinker but will miss my grey goose vodka

How about Perrier water? If you really want to ire the Frogs, try Spanish wines and Champagnes. They are excellent. Oops, can't call a Champagne Champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region of France. I think the Spaniards call it Champagne method.

Guess I covered the other half. I used to buy A LOT of French wine and French cheese before this -- never again. A part of me misses it -- your wine options really are radically reduced when you take France out of the equation -- but the good feeling I get from not buying it easily makes up for the lost wine. Those wine figures should be down a lot more than 9 percent, though. I've noticed here in NYC that French wines and cheeses are not displayed nearly as prominently as they were a few months ago, at least where I buy.

Try Ketel One - just as good if not better.

Look at this case of french obstructionism that I found in a newspaper of 1884. Their colors have not changed. It is rather a lengthy editorial but the punchline is worth the read:

THE SUN
Baltimore, Thursday, Oct 9 1884

THE PRIME MERIDIAN CONFERENCE
Owing to the persistent objection of the French delegates to the adoption of an English meridian, it is regarded as unlikely that the prime meridian conference recently assembled at Washington will realize the anticipations of its advocates. Long debates have taken place, the preponderating sentiment being favorable in the adoption by the whole commercial world of the meridian of Greenwich as the zero of longitude and time reckonings.

The chief arguments for the Greenwich meridian were the entensive (sic) use it already enjoys and the cost of making a change. "More than 70 percent of the world's shipmasters use this meridian, and the cost of the necessary changes in existing charts, if any other prime meridian is adopted, would exceed $10,000,000."

Nor can anything be urged against the Greenwich meridian on the ground of its inconvenience to sailors, inasmuch as it lies just eastward of the Atlantic, the busiest commercial area of the globe. There is already established at Greenwich an observatory -- an almost indispensable adjunct in the practical work of determining longitudes -- and to select another meridian not so circumstanced would lead to much unnecessary expense.

It was contended on the other hand that the common prime meridian should be "absolutely neutral" -- that is to say, should lie wholly outside the limits of Europe and America. It should cross the territory of none of the great powers. This is the ideal meridian contended for by the French delegates, if they were not to have the Paris meridian adopted, and a prime meridian through Behring Strait or across the Azores was in fact suggested as the one that would coincide best with their views.

To this contention it was objected that of course no observatory could be established in Behring Strait, and "if a point was selected where there was no observatory, the distance from that point to some observatory would have to be calculated" - a serious inconvenience

. Attention was called also to the circumstance that the Azores were open to objection, from the French point of view, in the fact that they were not neutral ground, since they belong to Portugal. An English delegate contended that the selection of a meridian was a question of practical convenience and should not be decided on grounds merely of abstract theory or sentiment.

The gist of the difficulty the conference has in arriving at a useful result is found, however, in the remark made by a French delegate to a United States naval officer: "France would never consent to engrave on her charts 'longitude west (or east) from Greenwich.'" _______________

Tito's is handmade here in Austin, TX and came in third behind Grey Goose and Ketel One in a Cocktail magazine poll but is about half as expensive. I know the guys who make it - hydroengineers who got smart.

I remember a radio report, at the time, related that French wines are 'purified' by the use of blood! I know the French are famous for unusual food preparation (from the American perspective), but can anyone confirm this?

That alone, gives me all the incentive I need to stay with American wines.

We don't give a damn about French wine in Texas. We have our own 'firewater'.

could be that people are finding out that Eastern Washington wines are just flat out better then the swill the frogs choke down.

hydroengineers who got smart.

Do they grow good hydro? :P

Belvedere Vokda replaced my Grey Goose. I glad I chaned. Much better martini!!!