Oeno-File

The Oeno-File: America Now Drinks More Wine Than France; Pinot Producers Get Into ‘Fracas’ Over Balance

Suck it, France!
Suck it, France!

• As of 2010, for the first time since anyone’s been counting, the U.S. surpassed France as the largest market for wine. We drank drank 3.96 billion bottles of compared to 3.85 billion bottles in France, but of course their population is way smaller. [Press-Democrat]

• In the span of 25 years, wines from the Priorat region of Spain went from complete obscurity to becoming the most expensive and prized among Spanish wines. But, as it happens, they’ve been making wine there since the 12th century. [NYT]

• We missed this last week: Matt Damon told a story on the Tonight Show about a Manhattan wine shop (where he was shopping with pal John Krasinski) that refused to accept his credit card to purchase a $1200 case because they didn’t believe he was Matt Damon. [Wine Spectator, Earlier]

• At a recent Pinot Noir producers’ conference, a panel on alcohol levels and balance “descended into a fracas” over whether Pinots had been bastardized and “pimped” in order to satisfy a handful of critics. [SF Chron]

• In order to cut down on shipping costs, U.S. wineries are experimenting with thinner, lighter-weight glass bottles. [North Bay Business Journal]

• A wine bar in Hong Kong, complete with iPads, is attempting to introduce largely Francophile Asian wine drinkers to California wines, featuring 88 of them on tap. [WSJ]

• At this year’s Earth Day event at Iron Horse Vineyards in Sonoma County, Ted Turner is going to be the featured speaker. [Press-Democrat]

The Oeno-File: America Now Drinks More Wine Than France; Pinot Producers Get