Wall Street protesters: We're in for the long haul

[Martinus]

Is this another of the "Non-Americans and Minsky are more sophisticated than Non-Minsky Americans" threads? 

[garbon]

Champenois winemakers are very assertive about their Champagne.They conceded the use of  "Crémant" to other regions though. If only to be used for wines of France and Luxembourg though originally from Champagne obviously.

How magnanimous of them.

[DGuller]

I've never tried your yankee "champagnes", but I can tell you californian "Cabernet" doesn't taste like Cabernet. At all.

I've had swill that said Sangiovese on the label, and lo and behold, it was from Napa Valley.

Honestly, it's a disgrace to even call most of those new world cepages wine at all. 

Sugary grape juice with a tad of alcohol content, now that would be more accurate.

Doesn't all reasonably priced wine taste like that?  Maybe those fancy $10 a bottle wines taste different, but that's win snob territory.

[Eddie Teach]

Is this another of the "Non-Americans and Minsky are more sophisticated than Non-Minsky Americans" threads? 

If you define sophistication as a bias toward French wines, than sure.

[Tamas]

Everyone knows Hungarian wines are the best.


END OF STORY. THREAD CLOSED.

[frunk]

I can see this argument for some other commodities, maybe, but wines are almost always so clearly indicated as to origin that it seems fairly silly.  In the wine shops I go to they categorize by different countries, and the labels themselves usually tell you where they are from within that country.  Trying to preserve particular names for a product from a particular region when another region produces the same thing but at a different quality is unnecessarily confusing.  I'm sure that the first location that produced wine would love to stop all other producers of fermented grape from calling their stuff wine for not being "authentic".

[garbon]

I'm sure that the first location that produced wine would love to stop all other producers of fermented grape from calling their stuff wine for not being "authentic".

Maybe, although there's also the fact that the definition of what constitutes the wine (and the process) of a region has changed over time.

[Malthus]

Is there anything more 'let them eat cake' than a thread about poverty protesting becomming a thread about wine snobbery?

'Let them appreciate fine authentic vintages'. 

[Tamas]

Is there anything more 'let them eat cake' than a thread about poverty protesting becomming a thread about wine snobbery?

'Let them appreciate fine authentic vintages'. 

good point

[Razgovory]

Is this another of the "Non-Americans and Minsky are more sophisticated than Non-Minsky Americans" threads? 

My cat is more sophisticated then you.  Also smarter.

[The Minsky Moment]

I can see this argument for some other commodities, maybe, but wines are almost always so clearly indicated as to origin that it seems fairly silly.  In the wine shops I go to they categorize by different countries, and the labels themselves usually tell you where they are from within that country.  Trying to preserve particular names for a product from a particular region when another region produces the same thing but at a different quality is unnecessarily confusing. 

There are two propositions here and they are contradictory to one another.  Proposition 1 is that there is no problem for the consumer because wine labels clearly indicate origin; proposition 2 is that protecting names of origin - which is the very thing on the label that tells you provenance - is unecessary.  Of course, without protecting the origin names, the usefulness of labels indicating origin is seriously undermined.

[Zoupa]

Hey Zoups.

Sorry, in a bad mood this morning. I was out of order.

Ca ira, mon ami. 

[Zoupa]

I've never tried your yankee "champagnes", but I can tell you californian "Cabernet" doesn't taste like Cabernet. At all.

I've had swill that said Sangiovese on the label, and lo and behold, it was from Napa Valley.

Honestly, it's a disgrace to even call most of those new world cepages wine at all. 

Sugary grape juice with a tad of alcohol content, now that would be more accurate.

Doesn't all reasonably priced wine taste like that?  Maybe those fancy $10 a bottle wines taste different, but that's win snob territory.

[Malthus]

I can see this argument for some other commodities, maybe, but wines are almost always so clearly indicated as to origin that it seems fairly silly.  In the wine shops I go to they categorize by different countries, and the labels themselves usually tell you where they are from within that country.  Trying to preserve particular names for a product from a particular region when another region produces the same thing but at a different quality is unnecessarily confusing. 

There are two propositions here and they are contradictory to one another.  Proposition 1 is that there is no problem for the consumer because wine labels clearly indicate origin; proposition 2 is that protecting names of origin - which is the very thing on the label that tells you provenance - is unecessary.  Of course, without protecting the origin names, the usefulness of labels indicating origin is seriously undermined.

The flaw is of course that there is no particular reason why geographical origin has to be indicated by the very name of the product.

A tee shirt made in China can still be called a tee shirt. It doesn't have to be called a "torso covering short-sleeved wearing apparel", just to let folks know it was made in China. That's what the little "Made in China" taggie is for.

To my mind, something like "Champagne" is a name that has, like Xerox, outgrown its intellectual-property-protected origin, to indicate the very name of a thing. It would protect consumers more to have, printed on the label, "From grapes grown in the Champagne region of France" or "from grapes grown in the Napa Valley, California" rather than calling the first product "Champagne" and the second product "Sparkling Wine". 

[DGuller]

  Actually, I would say that even more expensive wines rarely taste great, and are very inconsistent.  I have a bottle in my fridge right now, and I swear that it tasted very differently a month ago than it does now.