Vine wine and wine from the South

We are given a most suggestive little book; I won't say the title: let's call it “The guide to good restaurateurs in Paris”. The author sings about the talents of the Capital's most fashionable vatels, designating the best wines that certified sommeliers pour into their clients' glasses. Finally, in a few chapters, which he entitles “Products of Province”, the writer takes up the praise already addressed to the wines of the Rhine and Moselle, Burgundy and Bordeaux, Touraine and Anjou.

Le Midi deigns to retain his attention for a few moments and he speaks of it thus:
“No special products, dreaded cuisine, garlic in all its glory; thick wines from Minervois, lighter wines from the hills of Hérault, fragrant wines from Provence. For this you need sun, dust, cicadas, a blue sky on a blue sea. One point, that's all, and all this can be found, he says again, in one place, at restaurant X...!

Obviously, how can you decide to go to a restaurant in Paris, since in Paris there is little sun, little real dust, no cicadas, little blue sky and especially no blue sea, except on theater sets? We would be wasting our time...

This is why we don't drink wine from the South in Paris, because to drink wine from the South, you have to go to the garlic merchant!... And this reminds me of an annoying car breakdown that I had, one day in the past, in the department of Cher when the cars did not run on National Fuel.

A brave peasant, after helping me, took me into his farm, and to complete his French hospitality, he offered me a glass of local wine. At our first sip, clicking his tongue and winking, “Well, how do you like that one,” he said triumphantly. The wine was atrociously green, but I put on a good face and replied: “Ah! not bad at all.

“That’s because, you see, dear sir,” replied the good man, “this one is Vine wine and not wine from the South! »

What a poem this response is! And how it shows the essential need to arrive at a practical organization so that the wine of the South finally has the right to be included on the wine wine list!

Our winegrowers must be on the lookout for all opportunities that present themselves to promote our products. The Wine Fair, for example, next month, is one of them. It is high time to prove to Parisians in good faith that it is not essential to fill your mouth with garlic to taste our wines.

-F.