French Government Cracking Down on Wine

Eric Asimov over at the NY Times has a post on his excellent blog about the unusual way the French government is more or less snapping at the hand that feeds them. I've seen a few dozen stories surrounding clashes between the vintners of Southern France and the regulatory committees that oversee them, and it seems like each new regulation is more absurd than the next. In a nutshell, France has decided that wine (and all alcohol for that matter) is now to be treated as a dangerous drug. Apparently the fact that vino is such a wonderful part of French culture and a main reason for folks from America and elsewhere to visit won't stop them from banning advertisements, enforcing strict rules on the ads they do allow and even considering passing law that would make wine tastings illegal. It's a sad state of affairs, and the Asimov blog post has some good insight into whats going on.

From The Pour:

France already has ultra-strict rules regarding how wine is portrayed in newspapers and magazines. Le Parisien, a magazine, was fined last year, Spurrier reports, for an article on Champagne that the government contended promoted consumption of alcohol. A French court ruled last year that articles about wine must carry a health warning, just as cigarette packages do. For the record, Bettane’s wine Web site, which he runs with Thierry Desseauve, carries this warning: L’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé. A consommer avec modération. (Alcohol abuse is dangerous to the health. Consume with moderation.)