Tag: wine

Trump’s Cheese Tariffs May Be His Most Normal Trade Policy

If you’re a fan of European cheeses, I’m sorry to report the price outlook is not Gouda.

The U.S. and the European Union have a long-running trade dispute over airplane subsidies. Each side alleges that the other is subsidizing its major commercial-aircraft manufacturer (Boeing and Airbus, respectively) in violation of World Trade Organization rules. The WTO says both sides are right: Boeing and Airbus both receive improper subsidies. Soon, the WTO will say how much in retaliatory tariffs each side may impose to punish the other for these violations. And in preparation for that decision, the U.S. has prepared a list of $25 billion worth of European exports we might subject to 100 percent tariffs.

The list reads like an order sheet from Dean & DeLuca.

Tariffs may be applied to cheeses including Gouda, Stilton, Roquefort, and Parmigiano-Regianno. Olive oil. Olives. Dried cherries. Apricot jam, peach jam, currant jelly, pear juice. Ham, including Proscuitto di Parma, Jamón Ibérico, Jambon de Bayonne and any of the other delicious European hams. Wine. Whiskey. Brandy (e.g., Cognac). If you might buy it to throw a fabulous cocktail party, it may soon be subject to a prohibitive tariff.

Meanwhile, the EU has released its own list of goods it might tariff because of our subsidies to Boeing — it includes live lobsters, orange juice, and rum.

Donald Trump, who doesn’t drink, says you shouldn’t worry about wine tariffs because the best wines are American anyway. But while high tariffs that upset coastal snobs would seem to combine two of Trump’s passions, his strategy of threatening these tariffs is actually one of the more ordinary parts of his trade policy. Long before Trump was president, the U.S. and Europe have exchanged punitive tariffs on luxury and specialty goods as tools to push for resolutions to valid trade grievances [ . . . ]

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How to Taste Wine Like a Pro in Three Easy Steps 

Just taking a sip is not the right way to taste wine. Fortunately, learning the process to taste wine doesn’t take too long.

1. Appearance

First, you hold your glass by the stem, not up around the top as you can often see in movies and TV series about wine. Look at everything: the appearance of the wine, which must be brilliant and clear; the color, whose depth, intensity and nuances give information about the grape variety or varieties, and its evolution which indicates the possible age of the wine. For example, for a red wine with an earthy red color, you would call it “brick,” which indicates that you are dealing with a rather old wine. The same goes for a white the color of old gold.

2. Smell

The next step is to bring out the aromas, rotate the glass a little. Professionals do it with their arms in the air, but a neophyte risks spilling and staining their clothes. Let your arms rest on the table and create a circular movement that will “shake” the wine and allow it to release aromas.

Using your nose, you can perceive any defects: the smell of cork or sometimes something musty, toasted. This is probably what is called reduction, as opposed to oxidation. This is a sign that the wine needs air; a decanter should help free it. The aromas must be clear and expressive. They could be primary and reminiscent of fresh fruit, with hints of vanilla, characteristic of barrel aging, or more or less evolved, attesting to a long stay in the cellar.

3. Flavor

Finally, it is in the mouth that you get a definitive idea of the wine by perceiving, through feedback, the heaviest aromas, and by tasting the flavors. The acidity, sweetness and bitterness (which attest to, among other things, the presence of tannins) constitute the body of the wine. What you’re looking for is an attractive harmony, an equilibrium, and above all, the answer to the only question that is worth asking: do I like this wine?

This article was first published on Le Point

Source: How to Taste Wine Like a Pro in Three Easy Steps – Frenchly

Trump could target French wine with tariffs

That bottle of French wine may be getting more expensive. 

That bottle of French wine may be getting more expensive.

President Trump said Monday that he plans to “do something” about the European Union tariffs imposed on American wine, saying the U.S. pays too much to export wine to France while the U.S. imposed low tariffs to import French wine.

“France charges us a lot for the wine. And yet we charge them very little for French wine,” the president told CNBC.com, adding that California winemakers have complained to him about the EU tariffs.

“So the wineries come to me and say…’Sir, we’re paying a lot of money to put our product into France, and you’re letting’ — meaning, this country is allowing — ‘these French wines, which are great wines, but we have great wines too — allowing it to come in for nothing. It’s not fair,”’ Trump said.

Source: Trump could target French wine with tariffs