A gift from France to the US
On a forgotten page of nytimes.com yesterday, wedged in between stories entitled “Liberals Attempt Overthrow” and “Octopuses Taught to ‘Read,’” ran an unexpected wine story. To the tape:
PARIS Within the next month, Americans at Pacific coast ports will be able to enjoy gratuitously 3,600 bottles of French wines as the result of a generous gesture of the “little fellows,” or small producers of France. The consignment of wine left Le Havre yesterday [April 26] on the French liner Wisconsin after being inspected and tasted by representatives of the press.
Only the story wasn’t breaking news; it was part of a roundup of “100, 75, 50 Years Ago.” This item dates from 1934, a few months after the repeal of Prohibition. Unfortunately, their offering of “Château du Liot Haut-Barsac 1929 Riesling, Chambertin 1923 Champagne brut and 1835 Cognac” didn’t spark US wine consumption, which languished for several more decades. Now, let’s get back to those octopuses from 1959…
