According to this short piece
in the Times and a longer one by
ABC News (more in depth reporting on ABC—really?), the
body governing French wine laws is officially expanding
the northeastern region known as Champagne to include an additional 40 communities. The reason, they say, is that demand for
champagne will soon overtake the region's ability to produce the product—the production potential is 400 million bottles and in 2007, 338.7 million bottles were sold. It will be about another decade before any of these new vineyards produce a salable product; in the meantime, the cost of the land in these communities will most likely increase 3-5,000 percent per acre.
Obviously, there are purists everywhere who won't buy/drink a sparkling wine if it's not champagne. Personally, Catherine and I have become big fans of the Spanish
cavas (when we want something drier) or Italian
proseccos (which is slightly sweeter). But really, if it's a good wine, it doesn't matter if it's from New Zealand, Argentina or California. And, of course, these other wines are usually cheaper than champagnes.
So, naturally, the cynic in me thinks that's got to be driving at least some of this decision. If the the production potential is reached and yet demand continues to grow, the price of champagne goes up: this would seem to be an ideal situation for the vineyards. If, however, there's more champagne being made, there's the potential for even cheaper versions of the product. And, let's face it: it's pretty unlikely that any new vineyard is going to come up with the equivalent of a
Dom or a
Cristal right off the bat, so the high end wines are not in any danger of losing their market share.
Incidentally, of the 338.7 million bottles of champagne sold, less than half—about 150 million—were exported. There are approximately 60 million people living in France. I'd say the French are having a lot more fun the rest of us!
It's not surprising that French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, has strong opinions about various world leaders. What is somewhat surprising is that this master of subtlety bloviated within easy earshot of several French news outlets who—surprise, surprise—reported his bile. It's comforting to know that we can always count on you, M. le Président, to elevate the discussion to the level of your average kindergarten.
At his core, Jean-Marie Le Pen, perennial Far Right wing candidate for French president, is a bigot: he always runs on a xenophobic "France for the French" platform (in addition to being Holocaust denier—which is already reason enough to loathe him). How lovely, then, that his party, Front National, has had to sell its party headquarters in a Parisian suburb... to a Chinese university.
From today's Times: "Without criticizing President Bush, whom he has hailed as a good friend, [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy suggested that Mr. Obama would change the world’s view of the United States.
From the BBC: Perhaps it's because he thinks Obama likes Angela Merkel better than him (I've often suspected that beneath the calm exterior of any head of state lurks the temperament of a preschooler). But I really think it's because this is probably the guy who's going to be taking charge of la Maison Blanche from his bestest chum, W.
After only a year (and less than 30% approval ratings), too! Google "Bush" "admits" "mistake" and you'll find that our president, after 7 years (and roughly the same approval ratings), only did that twice, in 2006 and 2007.
The French, man, take their art very seriously. Which is cool, don't get me wrong: I wish more people in the U.S. were even interested in our art and artists at all. The BBC tells us that the French government is going to offer interest-free loans to allow people to buy art—of up to €10,000 ($15,000)! I don't what they consider "modest" buyers—people who won't buy nudes, maybe? Except we're talking about the French, so maybe nudes are okay, but nothing preserved in formaldehyde... I dunno. I was slightly heartened by the reason for this beneficence: France has slipped worldwide to number 4 (6.4% of all sales) among art buyers, behind China (7.3%), the U.K. (29.7%) and... drum roll...... the U.S. (41.7%)! I'm sure our rank—like our status as wealthiest nation—is due to the resources available only to the top 1% of Americans, but hey: we're number 1! Whoo-hoo! Let's go pick up a Kara Walker to celebrate! 
According to this short piece in the Times and a longer one by ABC News (more in depth reporting on ABC—really?), the body governing French wine laws is officially expanding the northeastern region known as Champagne to include an additional 40 communities. The reason, they say, is that demand for champagne will soon overtake the region's ability to produce the product—the production potential is 400 million bottles and in 2007, 338.7 million bottles were sold. It will be about another decade before any of these new vineyards produce a salable product; in the meantime, the cost of the land in these communities will most likely increase 3-5,000 percent per acre. 
