chuckwoww Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Yes a lot of people make good wine these days and much of what the French export is overpriced. Depends where in the world you are I suppose. When I'm in France I go for the best ordinaire I can find...it's never been duplicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 If I was in France I would drink French wine also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Oh good. Does that mean we can be friends? Active? I told you my message board experience is extensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelseafan Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Cybil Shepherd, "you know what the only good thing about the English is?.....they aren't french" Simpsons (When Hank was trying to take over the west coast of America in a parody of the James Bond film, You only live Twice Hank: "Hey Homer, who shall we blow up? The French or the Spanish"? (Homer thinks for a moment) Homer: "The French" (Hank muttering to himself) Hank: "They never say the Spanish" Classic Simpsons at its best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelseafan Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Yes a lot of people make good wine these days and much of what the French export is overpriced. Depends where in the world you are I suppose. When I'm in France I go for the best ordinaire I can find...it's never been duplicated. As a wine buyer by trade, the French wine in general is pretty well priced with the exception of Champagne and Bordeaux's En Primeur releases, but this is only down to demand exceeding supply. What IS overpriced are the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs which seem to be the trend at the moment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Interesting. I have no idea how wine gets priced...I would assume it comes down to supply and demand like most things outside Thailand. I guess there was a time when people bought French wine for the snob appeal but times have changed. Sounds like they now buy Kiwi wine or Canadian ice wine for the same reason...go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelseafan Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Its actually quite simple, a wine producer will produce a wine for the target market at £5.99, making a profit of circa £0.40 per bottle (retailer takes the profit). Robert Parker will get around to tasting it, if it gets more than 88 points the price then sky-rockets Champange on the other hand is a beast in its own. The problem is completely down to supply and demand, those rascals in Reims will plan on, say 10% increase for the next year, be happy with the fabulous amount of cash they will get and put their feet up. They do not consider that demand is around 110% up year on year (primarily thanks to the Indian and Asian rich guys getting in on the act) and think "hey lets increase our capacity". Actually to be fair, they can't due to tight controls by the regional CIVC....There's also....blah blah blah..... Anyhow, if you are still with me, one point of semi-interest is that the majority of wines labelled "champagne" sold in the US are nothing more than sparkling wine. To be a proper Champagne , the wine must come from Reims.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 I knew about the 'fake' Champagne. But is the Reims stuff actually superior? Maybe only Robert Parker knows for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayjann Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 i was once in Rheims and done a tour of one of the local Champagne houses. went to the cellar and i have never seen so many bottles of various sizes in one place. the guide said that any one time there was at least 9,000 bottles......... the cellar was huge and we got to sample the wares as well......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelseafan Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 It all depends on personal taste. I have tasted champagne that sucks and I have tasted stuff like Cordon Negro Brut (a spanish sparkling wine) that isn't too bad. I think there is Champagne for everyone. You can never go wrong with Dom Perignon (98 and 99 are great vintages), veuve cliquot and Laurent perrier. Cristal is waaaaaaaay over priced for what it is and you can blame a certain rapper for that. My personal fave is Laurent Perrier Rose..yep rose....I aint gay, its a good quaff. I have to say, and this is a personal comment, the americans aint that good at wine, its very commercial, Blossom Hill, Gallo, Fetzer etc. However, like everywhere there are some gems and the US is improving pretty fast, espeically the Napa Valley stuff. In answer to your question, yes "proper" Champagne is in the main very much superior, but like I said before, you like what you like. SJ, which house did you go to? there are over 1000 champagne producers in Reims. 9,000 bottles sounds like a small producer, someone like Moet or Bollinger would have around 500,000 bottles or so.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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