Hacker News Reader

Comment by geocar | Hacker News Reader

Not sure I agree with the analysis, at least on France.

France's top exports to the US are aircraft parts and beverages (wine).

Since the US needs those parts to export the (assembled) planes, I think the aircraft lobby (e.g. Boeing) will press hard to prevent a tariff here because it'd raise rates across the board, so that leaves wine: My hunch is even a 100% tariff on wine is unlikely to dissuade anyone from purchasing French wine -- the American wine is better, so the only people buying it are people who really wanted French wine anyway oh là là.

I don't know yet what I think about a trade war with all of Europe though.

View on HN

Lol at 'American wine is better'. It sure feels nice to pay $17 for a much-touted fancy bottle that turns out to be meh at best when in the States. Meanwhile you could just pick anything at random for like 3€ in any French or Italian grocery store and still get something decent. I probably didn't try everything the land of the free has to offer but this offside remark really makes me wonder what is considered good there.

By no means am I a wine connoisseur, but having just returned from France with a bevy of wine snobs who enjoy French wine (and were hoping for their success) -- this theory, as tested, did not hold true.

I purchased a handful of cheapo bottles (in the 3-8 euro range) from Franprix as a surprise to my wine-loving friends, hid the bottles from them and prepared blind tastings for them, only to discover that they regarded even the best of them to be undrinkable.

Perhaps this is simply due to a discrepancy between French and American palates? Perhaps Franprix is a bad place to buy wines? Perhaps a lot of things, but the notion that any $3 wine in France is universally regarded as 'decent' is not one I can vouch for.

> Perhaps Franprix is a bad place to buy wines?

In Paris yes it’s a bad place but in the producing regions they can have a nice local selection.

> $3 wine in France is universally regarded as 'decent' is not one I can vouch for.

You are right, even higher priced wines are hit or miss. Choosing wine in France is very complicated, compared to the US where price is a good taste indicator. But you can definitely find very good $3-5 bottles in France.

Thanks for this precision. Knowing this detail about aircraft parts seems to change the dynamic though.

I have to disagree with one point though:

“American wine is better than French wine....” (gulp!).

Maybe white wine, but reds? Euch Merlot ...

EDIT though I do like a nice Zinfandel, the sheer range offered by the French producers is unmatched.

I might have to try more american wine before making a definite opinion. Where are the best wine produced in america? California?

A certain amount of that is certainly tongue-in-cheek. I think if you compare a $20 wine in California to a €10 wine you buy somewhere along the Garonne, you're probably going to enjoy the French wine more.

But we're talking about what changes buying-behaviour, and it's important to consider that as a savvy shopper in the US you can go into a wine shop and buy everything under $20, and you'll find local wins. That's how you anchor your expectations about prices and quality. Now whether that's because of duty/import or it's because of shipping, or it's simply because only big brands will bother exporting is, or any other reason, those reasons are out of scope simply because a tariff isn't going to change them in the slightest.

For reference, French wine in France can be had for 3 or 4 euros a 75 cl bottle.

That's for good wine. There are cheaper wines available of course.

If you're saying $20, you must be talking about a 6 pack ;)

> For reference, French wine in France can be had for 3 or 4 euros a 75 cl bottle.

This legend about french cheap wine is getting better and better everytime I hear it. 3-4€ is the low price for wine in a bottle. Some are decent, some are utter shit. But that's not "for good wine". That's entry level, which sometimes is decent.

I know some of the export wine is cooking-grade shit and people don't know the difference. But for people versed in wine in the US, the €3-4 bottles aren't going to cut it.

I don't know how it is in a WallMart in the US but in a French Carrefour there can be a 20 meter long aisle dedicated to wines and spirituous, possibly both sides of the aisle.

That's a huge selection covering all types of wine for as little as a few euros. Price is not a predictor of anything, there are both good and bad wines all over the place.

Wine is truly a commodity in France. There are very few people paying 10€ a bottle unless you're talking Champagne, that's not considered a wine.

edit: See for yourself https://www.carrefour.fr/r/boissons-et-cave-a-vins/cave-a-vi...

I am french. I know the supermarkets, and still I frequently buy bottles above 10€. My demographic is not small, there are just many people that can't afford storage space for bottles and don't want to buy entry-level wine.

I'm not familiar enough with the US but I don't think you'd find any French wine there.

From my experience in the UK, none of the French wines I could find in supermarkets exist in France. They appear to be specifically made for export and they are priced double or triple what a comparable bottle would be sold in France.

Given the US is a hell further than the UK, that's probably even worse, stranger wines and more pricey.

>>the American wine is better

By what objective metric?

> the American wine is better,

Californian wine due to the drought has much higher alcohol %s in recent years.

This does impact the taste, and it's not all good.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com