Le Crisis. There was constant talk in France about the wine crisis. The French government doesn't care about wine. The EU doesn't care about wine. The wine identity of France is in klutz. It could be very serious.
The young and stylish are still in love with les cocktails and not le vin. And so on the news again was the Great Dumping of Wine. Some idlers told me, “The alcohol companies are behind it all, more vodka, less wine.” Conspiracy theories run wild, which is not, by the way, out of the realm of possibility.
A woman at Cave Café in the 18th (the first sans soufre wine bar in Paris. Food is very good, by the way.) --young enough to look pretty when she twisted her face in order to smoke –whispered to me, “I have a scoop for you, that’s what you call it, yes? A scoop?”
After I confirmed that a scoop was very definitely the American word she leaned in and said, “A road is being built in the middle of St. Emillion. It's all over the news. Someone from the Lurton family was talking about it.”
(When I got home to do a proper Google, I found out it is Margaux, in fact. http://www.frenchduck.com/2006/05/margaux_threatened_by_new_auto.html)
The next day I traveled to the Loire to visit Clos Roche Blanche. I sadly noted a new Autoroute which passes too close to Catherine Roussel's house and the Clos Roche Blanche vineyards in the Loire. After the initial hugs and hellos I asked her what news she could tell me. I didn’t use the word scoop.
“There is very bad news. Just bad news,” she said shaking her head. And then Didier Barrouillet, who came in on the tail end of this conversation, repeated, “Bad news. Bad news.” And I expect her to say someone died, some scandal is happened, some sans soufre guy in the Loire was caught yeasting wine or other some crime against nature, man and wine………….but she said,
”Vignerons are selling their land. The EU is giving them money to give up their land. It is a disaster.”
Of course no one making good wine is giving up their land. No one passionate about wine is giving up their land, so only bad wine is being sacrificed. So, this is not a loss. What is a loss is the land. Some of the vines destined to be replaced by apartments are the oldest oldest. Soon to be uprooted are old pineau d’aunis and cot from great sites--and we all know there is not enough of either to go around. The situation has Catherine and Didier shaking their head as getting news of a coming plague.
Catherine and Didier in search of a giant frog.
