Koreans have enjoyed French wine most last year

Imports of wine decreased in terms of quantity but increased by a large margin in terms of value due to the weaker Korean currency and preference of high priced wine by drinkers.

Korea Customs Service said Saturday that Korea imported 28,795 tons of wine worth $166.5 million last year, down by 9.5 percent in quantity but up 10.7 percent in terms of value.

Korea imported $65.7 million worth of wine from France, accounting for 39.5 percent of the total, followed by $29.7 million worth of Chilean product and $24.1 million worth of Italian product.

Sour grapes for French wine in 2008

BORDEAUX, France (AFP) — 2008 has been all sour grapes for French wine, a once proud symbol of the nation's identity now swirling in a cocktail of alcohol abuse legislation.

Long viewed as a quintessential part of the French lifestyle, along with fine foods and good living, wine is slumping so low in the national esteem that winemakers have even complained of being treated like drug dealers by the government, and their websites put on a par with porn.

One recent survey highlighting the change in popular attitudes to wine showed that 51 percent of people now considered the national drink "risky".

The oft-maligned wine of France, California

TERRE HAUTE — There’s comfort food, the comfortable recliner, and those comfortable old shoes.

Then there is the oft-maligned but comfortable Merlot.

Merlot’s reputation as the punching bag of all wine snobs reached its zenith in 2004 in the movie “Sideways.” The movie is a bittersweet comedy with a central theme of wine, Pinot Noir to be specific.

The main character, played brilliantly by Paul Giamatti, is a wine geek trying to find great Pinot Noir while on a ‘bachelor’s” trip prior to his buddy’s wedding. His buddy is merely interested in exploring his freedom before tying the knot.

Value-priced wines from France do exist

In the depths of our Chicago winter, you may find yourself dreaming of a sun-washed cafe in the south of France, the warm Mediterranean breeze mingling scents of the sea with kitchen aromas of grilling sausages, onion tarts and cassoulet - the region's fabled bean-and-meat stew, prepared with the cafe proprietor's family recipe, bien sur. As you peruse the menu - no hurry, no worries - the garçon pours your vin rouge, blanc or rose from a carafe. You sip and savor. You think, "Why can't we have delicious and affordable wine like this back home?"

BAM! Back to cold reality, where, even if budget permits overseas travel, it will be months before the Cote d'Azur warms to outdoor dining.

Curtain raises again on Jacques Verges

He requests French wine - which can cost up to US$162 a bottle at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh - but the legendary and controversial French attorney Jacques Verges has to settle for $8 glasses of house red when he stays at impoverished Cambodia's swankiest hotel.

He's a celebrity lawyer whose fame now equals that of some of his most notorious clients; and he gained it by defending the indefensible. His abysmal win rate might embarrass a lesser personality - before France abolished the death penalty in 1981, he had earned the nickname "Monsieur Guillotine" - but not Verges.