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You are here: Home » Food + Drink » Archive » October 2007
Food and Drink Archive: October 2007
Food and Drink Archive: Sept. 5-Oct. 22, 2007
Bordeaux Sales Increase Slightly
AFP. Oct. 22, 2007
Sales
of Bordeaux wine internationally rose three percent in volume in
2006-2007 but inched up only 0.4 percent at home, said the Bordeaux
Wine Council (CIVB). Export volume rose to 5.67 million hectolitres and
grew four percent. The previous year exports rose four percent but
domestic sales remained stable. Industry representatives called for
greater autonomy for the local wine industry and a decentralization of
power -- as seen in so called 'New World' wine producing countries such
as Australia and America.
> More
Michelin and Zagat in Dining Guide Duel
AP. October 21, 2007
When
it comes to dining guides, Americans have long relied on the Zagat
Survey based on the input of tens of thousands of frequent diners. Its
new rival is the esteemed French
Michelin
guidebook that uses professional food critics. Since dispatching its
anonymous inspectors to seek out the best places to eat in New York
City in 2005, Michelin has expanded to cover San Francisco, Los
Angeles, and Las Vegas. > More
American is World's Top French Bread Expert
Financial Times. Oct. 20, 2007
Cornell
University professor Steven Kaplan is the world’s foremost historian of
French bread. The 64-year-old academic's latest book, Good Bread is
Back (Duke University Press), is a punchy, compendious account of how
French baking returned to its artisanal roots and sparked a revival in
quality crusts. >More
Absinthe Makes Splash After U.S. Ban
Bloomberg. Oct. 17, 2007
Absinthe,
the potent liqueur made famous by French poet Baudelaire and the
subject of a Degas painting, is making a comeback in the U.S. after
being banned by the government since 1912. It took distillers,
importers and attorneys years to get the ban lifted. Now there are
several brands of absinthe on the market. To be legal they must
contains less than 10 parts per million of the hallucinogenic wormwood
extract thujone. >More
Two Michelin Stars for Ramsay's New York Food
Guardian. Oct. 17, 2008
Television chef Gordon Ramsay has been awarded two coveted Michelin stars for
"Gordon Ramsay at The London" opened in November 2006.
The New York Michelin guide, now on its third edition, has this year
granted 42 restaurants star status but only three the ultimate
three-star accolade. Those three were French restaurants "Jean Georges"
and "Le Bernardin" and American eatery "Per Se," which held the same
top spots last year for their "exceptional cuisine, worth a special
journey" in the guide's words. Ramsay now holds 12 prized Michelin
stars for his restaurants around the world, putting him level with
French chef Alain Ducasse. >More
Chef Ramsay Slags the French
Daily Mail. Oct. 17, 2007
Notoriously outspoken celeb chef anf Fox TV star Gordon Ramsay, who
holds the most Michelin stars for his gourmet restaurants, dissed the
French on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Ramsay, who trained as a chef
in Paris kitchens, said the French had bad breath and were hard to work
with. Ramsay is not afraid of alienating his customers: he recently
opened a restaurant serving British food in Paris. He is also an
advisory chef for the new Airbus 380. >More
Wine Globalises
Financial Times. Oct. 16, 2007
Wines are now being grown world wide, putting a dent in traditional
European markets. “Almost anywhere in the world you think doesn’t make
wine, does now,” says Simon Farr, deputy chairman and wine strategist
at Bibendum Wine in London. New vineyards are sprouting in Brazil,
China, Korea, Slovenia, and Mexico. To reflect this growth, the sixth
edition of Hugh Johnson's famous The World Atlas of Wine has doubled
its coverage of world wines. >More
France’s LVMH toasts rosé year for Champagne
Drinks News. Oct. 16, 2007
Sales of ‘pink’ Champagne have risen sharply this year for French
luxury goods firm LVMH, and winemakers expect the boom to continue in
2008. A “remarkable performance” from rosé Champagne helped LVMH to
increase sales of bubbly by eight per cent by volume during the first
nine months of 2007, nearly double the Champagne industry average for
the last year. LVMH, which owns premium Champagne brands such as Moët
& Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, also saw volume sales of its Hennessy
Cognac brand rise 11 per cent during the same period – largely thanks
to new customers in Russia and Asia. >More
France to Boost Champagne Production
Telegraph. Oct. 13, 2007
Champagne
producers have nominated 40 villages in north-eastern France that may
be allowed to produce the sparkling wine as the Champagne region around
Reims reaches maximum yield and producers try to meet demand from
Russia, China and India. Under Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée rules,
only 32,500 hectares of vineyards may produce the region’s three grape
varieties: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. Global sales have
risen from 287 million bottles in 2002 to 321 million in 2006. >More
French Buy Less French Fish and Vegetables
Humanité. Oct. 8, 2007
Over a quarter of French people do not buy fruit and fish because of
high prices, although they acknowledge the good quality of the produce,
according to a study by Credoc, the French centre responsible for
analysing living conditions. This decrease in consumption is
generational. For example, 40-70 year olds spend over 400 euros per
year on fresh fruit, versus merely 50 euros for a 20 year old. >More
Wine Fairs Delight French Consumers, Anger Wholesalers
AFP. Oct. 7, 2007
Twenty five percent of annual wine sales in France take place nowadays
during supermarket wine fairs -- or "Foire aux Vins" - said Guillaume
Halley, director of the Champion supermarket in Bordeaux. "We generally
sell about five million bottles during the two-week wine fair," Halley
said. Now they are so well known for bargains that rules are in place
to prevent wholesale wine merchants, from both France and neighbouring
countries, from buying up the best wines at bargain basement prices,
only to resell them for double. >More
Julia Child Enters Women's Hall of Fame
AP. Oct. 6, 2007
American
chef Julia Child, who died in August 2004, will be inducted into the
National Women's Hall of Fame. The famous American cook, author, and
television personality introduced French cuisine and cooking techniques
to America through her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and
the television series The French Chef. >More
LVMH's Sephora to Expand
AFX News. Oct. 4, 2007
French
luxury conglomerate LVMH is planning to speed up its expansion of
Sephora perfume and cosmetic stores, opening around 20 new shops in
France in 2008, as well as targeting high potential areas like Poland,
the Czech Republic, China (50 new shops), the US and Canada (35 new
shops). >More
In Praise of Roussillon
Los Angeles Times. Oct. 3, 2007
The artisanal wines of the south west region of Roussillon are the
toast of nouvelle wine bars in Paris: impossibly inky and brilliant,
with rich, velvety and saturated color, featuring aromas of wild herbs,
pine and olive; rich red-fruit flavors; and fresh, firm textures. >More
French Food Imports to the USA Rebound Slightly
UK Telegraph. Sept. 30, 2007
The
enmity of the Iraq War, when Americans branded the French
"cheese-eating surrender monkeys" for their refusal to support the
invasion, led to boycotts and a huge fall in French wine sales. Now
American markets seem to be more welcoming. US Department of
Agriculture figures reveal that French wine imports have risen slowly
to $1.3 billion from $1.1 billion since 2003, despite the general
crisis in the French wine industry. French cheese imports in July 2007
were up 12 per cent on the previous year. >More
Globe-Trotting Celebrity Chef Bourdain Settles Down
CBS News. Sept. 30, 2007
Bad
boy chef Anthony Bourdain has given up his wild days as a heroin
addict. The Franco-American foodie is now 50, with a family to take
care of. He no longer cooks for a living. For the last five years he
has hosted a TV show called "No Reservations” which has taken him on a
gastronomic tour around the world. >More
Fine French Wine Labels May Deceive
UK Telegraph. Sept. 27, 2007
Up to a third of wines sold under France's regional appellation system
might be from an entirely different region, according to a French
consumers' group UFC-Que Choisir. The Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée,
or AOC, once a gold stamp of origin and quality, is fast turning into a
national joke, due in large part to AOC award panels made up of local
wine professionals with vested interests. > More
"Ratatouille" Movie Stimulates Appetite for French Cuisine
Chicago Tribune. Sept. 26, 2007
The animated Pixar film "Ratatouille," about of a food-obsessed rat who
restores a faded French restaurant to its former glory, has ignited new
interest in French cuisine, say Chicago chefs
. > More
Top Chef Pans "Molecular" Cuisine
AFP. Sept. 5, 2007
Veteran
chef Fredy Girardet, ranked one of the masters of 20th century French
cuisine, attacked the avant-garde techniques known as "molecular
gastronomy", in Le Monde newspaper. Some chefs "believe modernity is
about turning their kitchen into a laboratory," said the 70-year-old
Swiss, who retired in 1996 after inspiring a generation of chefs around
the world. "We need to finish with these mish-mashed, sweet-tasting
avant-garde dishes... where nothing is identifiable, neither texture,
nor freshness, nor the original taste of the product," he said. >More
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