Tag: politics

The view from Mas de Daumas Gassac

We are all French, aren’t we?

The usual infighting between French appellations… Renaming the French table wines to Vin de France was an ingenious move. They were formerly called vin de table, wines without geographical origin. “France” is a brand name

Should ”planting rights” be abolished or not?

“Planting Rights” is an archaic system by which winegrowers are not allowed to plant new vines (extend their vineyards) unless they have “planting rights”. Without these “rights” nothing can be planted. It has been in

Why the system of Planting Rights should be abolished

“Planting Rights” is an archaic system by which winegrowers are not allowed to plant new vines (extend their vineyards) unless they have “planting rights”. Without these “rights” nothing can be planted. It has been in

Who will win – Champagne or Burgundy?

At the beginning of next year president Sarkozy will decide if he will choose Champagne or Burgundy to be the French candidate for the 2012 UNESCO world cultural heritage. There is of course also the

A donkey by the fence

Vine planting rights: a return to protectionism?

A few years back all EU countries agreed to a reform of the agricultural policies concerning the wine sector. One element was to abolish the existing system with planting rights, that decrees that a grower

Greek winemaker becomes mayor of Greece’s second city

Yiannis Boutaris was recently elected as mayor (a politically important role) in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second biggest city. Yiannis Boutaris is part of the same family that has given its name to the famous Greek wine

French wine TV relocates to Luxemburg

Edonys is the cryptic name of a new television channel that will be entirely dedicated to programs about wine. The channel was created about a year ago by an entrepreneur who has specialised in creating

Protected origin

Many wine regions are very keen to protect their name. It is also becoming increasingly common for other things: cheese, ham, chicken and even a certain kind of lace (no not that kind) have protected

DRC wines on ice until fair monopoly trade is invented

Some of the world’s most expensive wines come from Domaine de la Romanée Conti in Burgundy. They can go for around 4000€. Per bottle. The Swedish monopoly Systembolaget received its allocation of the 2006 wines

Vandals destroy a GM vine test plantation in Alsace

A group of around 60 vandals broke during the night of august 15 into an experimental plantation created by the French agricultural research institute (INRA) in Alsace. The tore up and destroyed 70 vines that

New trials with genetically modified grape vines

The French agricultural research institute (INRA) has – again – planted an experimental vineyard with genetically modified vines. Out of the 500 vines in the test vineyard 70 have been genetically modified to see if

Binge drinking leads to risky sex – perhaps

Does binge drinking lead to risky sex among college students? The answer seems to be, yes, perhaps. The American Association of Wine Economists usually publishes papers on less sexy subjects (as e.g. Measuring the Economic

French wine TV channel to become Luxembourgeois?

It’s called Edonys – the TV channel that will be entirely dedicated to wine. It’s a project launched by Media-Place Partner. the TV channel will air interviews, reportage, debates, etc but exclusively on a wine

The view from Mas de Daumas Gassac

We are all French, aren’t we?

The usual infighting between French appellations… Renaming the French table wines to Vin de France was an ingenious move. They were formerly called vin de

Protected origin

Many wine regions are very keen to protect their name. It is also becoming increasingly common for other things: cheese, ham, chicken and even a

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