op-ed

Micah Andersen
Christi Vance
Engl. 102
11 Nov 2009
America Open Your Eyes, And Drink Wine
America is known for being the Best at a lot of things; economy, cheeseburgers, and even military occupations. What it is not widely known for is the exceptional quality of its wine. One has to wonder why a country that excels at anything it puts effort into isn’t regarded as the premier spot for wine. One might ask some basic questions as to this little dilemma; maybe we don’t have the best growing conditions, or maybe French wine is simply better? It could be that America just doesn’t produce enough wine to really get into the quality stuff. In truth, all these questions are pretty easily answered in America’s favor, and the only thing holding back America from being the world’s foremost producer of quality wine can be summed up in one phrase, Eurocentric bias.
It’s the European wine community that’s holding back American wines. Their nationalist opinions, and narrow mindedness, don’t let them accept the fact that American wine is usually superior to their own countries. This has been proven time and again in international competitions where American wines routinely trounce their European counterparts. On their website, Chateau Montelena recounts the famous wine tasting of 1976, as it was later known as “The Judgment of Paris” through a series of newspaper articles in which American wines (chateau Montelena included) beat out French competitors in a blind taste test. The panel of judges was composed entirely of French wine experts, who voted American wines first place in both White and red wine categories. These results have been repeated time and again. Dr. David J. Hanson tracks of 30 years of wine tastings in his article “Historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 and Other Significant Competitions”, in which American wines have defeated their international competitors.
From the 1970’s onward American wines have been embarrassing the prestigious French Bordeaux and few other European countries dare to challenge American vintages. So where’s all the media attention? As can be seen in an article from Wine News by dick Rosano’s article “Wine Service in The President’s House” French wine has still been served in the seat of America’s power for off and on for the past 30 years. Why until the 1990’s was French wine still served in our own White House? Why aren’t bottles of quality American vintages lining the shelves of high end wine shops in France? It all comes back to the fact that some people just can’t let go of the past.
Sure French wines were the greatest the world had to offer for many years, but the time has come to pass the torch and the glass to their American beneficiaries. The best wines now are coming out of the multi-climate pacific coast of the U.S. and a few other regions in the interior. America has always been destined to make the world’s best wine and it has assumed its place, what it lacks is the recognition it deserves.
This is all changing with the dramatic growth of America’s wine industry. A simple look at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s website shows that America is now the fourth largest producer of wine in the world. Soon the image of fine wine won’t come from antiquated cellars in Europe, but instead the new and robust wineries of our own country. I would implore all wine enthusiasts from America and the world in general to stop buying in to their Eurocentric bias, and buy American.