Having said that, French wine is certainly excellent. The thing is, they (the French) have monopolized the mystique for too long. It's like, of course only the French know how...
French winegrapes are excellent...but so are Napa/Sonoma. And Australian, and Chilean. I recently tasted a Pinot Blanc from South Africa...excellent.
Did I mention the Reislings and Sylvaner from Germany?
I almost left out the Brunello and Barolo from Italy; the Tokay from Hungary.
Oh, and the Tempranillo from Spain...yikes. The best.
Well, you get the point. There's good wine from all over the world. Even from your own garage, if you're so inclined.
Excellent post. When is your next garage tasting?...;-)
I wondered why that last bottle you sent me tasted a bit like antifreeze :)
Purchase a Pinot Noir from Oregon.
Give it a chance, you won't be disappointed.
I'll suggest Henry Estate, but there are many others to consider.
Certain French Bordeaux and Burgundy wines are the best reds in the world.
Their sauternes are also the best...not that I drink them much.
The Chautenuf de Papes are also very nice.
That said....boycotting them is fine by me but folks who try to rationalize that French wines are not the best anyhow are simply wrong in my view.
Napa area reds are quite nice but lack the complexity in my view and are actually more expensive proportional to taste.
Take Cakebread. or Caymus Reserve.. a great Kali Cab but for 125-150 bucks or more I'd rather have a good Lynch Bages or Cos de Estournel or Ducru etc.
And Petrus, Le Pen or Lafite or Margaux or a La Tache level burgundy...hell, those wines are like a Porsche...there is no substitute.
One man's opinion. The world is full of great wines but the best of the best are either Bordeaux (St Estephe, St Emilion, Pomerol, Paulliac, Marguax, St Julien) or Burgundy (Vosne-Romanee, Gevrey Chambertin )
Boycott all ya'll want but don't delude yourselves. Wine is one thing the Sapos do very well at the high end....red wine speaking.