Saddam: Mateus for all
In his 2002 book on the former Iraqi leader, Con Coughlin chronicled Saddam’s rise to power. In the 1970s, Saddam developed a taste for the sweet Mateus rosé–along with American-style ribs, fancy suits, and racetrack gambling.
I remembered this little vignette (indeed, who could forget this wine tragedy?) when I met a representative of Sogrape at a recent tasting. Sogrape, of Portugal, makes Mateus to this day along with a stable of other wines and ports. I couldn’t resist asking him whether the fall of Saddam had meant a reduction in sales to Iraq.
“About two containers” of wine had to go elsewhere the representative told me.
Wow, 2,400 cases is a lot of wine. Was Saddam foisting Mateus on everyone in the palaces until the end?
Oct
9
2006
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