Historic vintage for French appellations?

AS FRANCE casts off its 78-year old appellation system in favour of an EU-approved scheme, should wines lovers mourn its passing? No, they should not. With AOCs proliferating and industrial production widespread, France's leading consumer magazine says 40% of French appellation wines are unworthy of their discredited labels and 65% communicate nothing about terroir. Inspection will go beyond sniffing the odd vat sample under new EU rules. The new labels are changing buying habits. But never buy a wine that showcases its appellation - the producer is selling it based on the appellation's perceived quality, not his/her skill.

Full article first published in The Connexion (September, 2013)

Are we drinking better, or just better imitations?

CHÂTEAU VULI’s upmarket red wine is lightly oaked with a wild vanilla aftertaste. These flavours come from additives, including an old table, a vanilla-scented air-freshener and cardboard. While not forbidden in Groland (France’s satirical double in the eponymous Canal+ TV news show), how much does this resemble real viticulture? Quite a lot. Industrial-scale wineries pump out highly manipulated, flavour-enhanced, similar-tasting, cheapish imitations of expensive wines. Advocates of these techniques emphasise “giving consumers what they want”. The losers are people (like me) who want to drink more, really good, inexpensive wines.

Full article first published in The Connexion (March 2011)

SEE BELOW FOR CHATEAU VULI FROM GROLAND