Since we’re in France for part of this summer, it seems appropriate to write about the position of wine in today’s French culture. Wine has been grown in France since time immemorial, well Greek and Roman times anyway. So, wine has a place in French culture that’s special. But, during my lifetime, that’s changed considerably. The great wine growing regions – Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, Alsace and the Rhone valley – continue to turn out world beating wines, but the culture (and fast growing environment) is changing, both in production and consumption.
Competition from New World wines has forced a more professional approach to wine making. Gone are the days when the only way to become a wine maker was to be apprenticed to an experienced master. Even the University of Bordeaux now teaches wine making; the department opened up long after University of California at Davis, for example
Today, almost every store sells wine, sometimes from a barrel; you bring in your empty bottle and fill it yourself. Why put your empty bottle in the recycling bin (often a bottle bank outside a store in Europe) when you can just refill it? The motorway service areas sometimes sell wine alongside food. Truck stops may have a fixed price and good value menu for commercial drivers, which can even include wine.
Who would have guessed that, historically, prisoners would be given a ration of wine, but no ration of water?
Until 1956, French school cafeterias served wine, believe it or not! Children may still be introduced to wine by being given some diluted with water. Sixteen-year-olds can drink wine in public, in the company of their parents, but now they have to be 18 to buy or drink wine unaccompanied. That changed a mere 15 years ago.
One huge part of the culture is that you can walk down the street carrying a glass of wine, or have a picnic in a public place with a container of wine. Just look at the photos of the Parisians picnicking at the “beaches” on the banks of the Seine. However, there are very strict laws against driving or cycling with any significant blood alcohol level, even stricter if you’re under 21. There are large fines and the laws are enforced with prison time.
The numbers confirm all these anecdotes, that wine consumption in France is falling. Beer consumption is rising, as is cocktail consumption. Apple cider in Brittany has it’s own AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée), and consumption is rising. Wine is important, but not in the ways that it once was.
Cheers!
-Submitted by Guy Gimson
(Image credit: Pixabay.com and Vinepair.com)