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…
On April 29th, 2009 at 11:18 am ,Dylan wrote:
Well, I’m sure even a literate cephalopod could not match your keen eye for spotting such an article. However, could you clarify: were these bottles a gift or was it news that they would be available for purchase?