Comments on: Buying wine a la francaise

By: Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » Paris/France wine roundup

Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » Paris/France wine roundup — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:29:20 +0000

[...] wine at stores Buying wine a la francaise La Derniere Goutte, Paris Lavinia, French for wine convenience Bernard Magrez, the brand, the [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 12:55:00 +0000

Not everyone in France lives in Paris, even tho' it seems like it sometimes!
Typical French, Parée or non, drink cheaply. Especially wine. If you dine away from the rarified tourismo style, you quickly see this.
Not everyone there hankers for the first tranche of Margaux or Lafite. Actually almost no one does! Much like here! — But unlike here, where 65% of our population doesn't use the word "wine" in polite conversation, in France, wine is a part of their everday life.
So, what makes up that great divide — 13 gallons compared to our ±2 gallons consumed — is a lot of day-by-day "plonk" or jug wine. Something we have screwed up our noses about.
Sure, almost everyone there has wine in their cellars, but they are constantly buying "everyday" wines at the stores. That's why you see so much wine everywhere, and so much on sale is the cheaper stuff, it's what sells day in and day out. Plus, the government there isn't so bananas about licensing as we have become!

Lighter note:
Really now! What self-respecting Savoyarde [sp] would really drink Sancerre with a salad? With cabbages and cardoons as the veggies of choice there, salads are maybe a bit boring.
[internet insert]
The white wines of Savoie are light and fruity and are perfect as an apéritif or as an accompaniment to fish, seafood and hors d’œuvre, as well to cheese and fondue.
No mention of salad.

By: Dr. Vino

Dr. Vino — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 14:09:00 +0000

Thanks for that info Dan. It's interesting that there's a seasonality too big box buying in France.

And Bman, I noticed E. Leclerc also had the cheapest gas around too!

By: Bman

Bman — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 14:04:00 +0000

E. LeClerc has a nice wine selection and knowledgeble staff which is wonderful for a hypermart. A nice cheese selection as well!

By: Morgan

Morgan — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 11:12:00 +0000

In France most wine is, indeed, purchased at the supermarket. What may not be at first apparent is that most of that purchasing is done during the wine releases in the fall.

The supermarkets have special promotions and people go to the supermarkets in droves and fill shopping carts full of wine that they then place into their cellars. If you miss these, you can still get good wine, but all the best will be gone. But the best is purchased while visiting wine regions anyway.