Readers Report
Savoring the Fine Points of the Wine Business
"Wine war" (Cover Story, Sept. 3) laments the restrictive aspects of French law--the appellation controlee system--by noting that adding "oak chips" to fermenting wine is prohibited. As any self-respecting Napa Valley or Barossa Valley (Australia) vintner will attest, using oak chips for flavor instead of barrel-aging is a dubious shortcut resulting in mediocre wine. French rules, in force since 1935, served to improve their product to the point of dominating the world market, which they still do.
Fred Pieretti
Madison, N.J.
I read "Wine war" with interest, having just washed down mussels with Spanish (Galician) white wine, a day after putting away pasta with Chianti Classico, one day after going to a terrific Provencal restaurant where we enjoyed white Burgundy. I am amazed to find no mention of Italy or Spain in the article about the trials and tribulations of the French wine industry. And how about the Germans and other European Union winemakers?
Edward Walworth
Lewiston, Me.
New World marketers say French labels are confusing. It is precisely about origin that French labels are not confusing. More and more, estate-bottled California labels indicate the variety, the region, and the vineyard.
Hey, it's a pleasure to be "confused" by the differences between Zinfandel from Shenandoah Valley of California and Dry Creek Valley. With origin labeling, I don't have to be a connoisseur to make these distinctions: I can become one. The marketing of branded varietals just makes it easy for me to keep on being a "beer bum."
Robert W. Mayberry
Grand Haven, Mich.
Worldwide business may justifiably be the last objective of our French wineries. Keeping alive a family tradition and cultivating a deeply rooted artisanat may well be as noble a task as making millions out of the sacred grape.
Dominique Feneyrou
Houston
France is the land of paradox. You buy a half-decent bottle of wine, go back for a second sometime later, and it's nowhere near as good. I have lived in France for 10 years, and I have given up trying to buy decent wine at a decent price. I only wish I could find even a moderate selection of New World wines on Carrefour shelves.
Howard Huxter
Pevy, France
"Wine war" should have focused more on wine culture, especially when wine stores in the U.S. get more of their revenues from wines preserved in plastic gallons. The topic of wine was a good one for the summer, but the article tasted "corked."
Pascal Soares
Kenmore, N.Y.
Perhaps France will simply become a niche market for wines. So be it. There is always room for them on the world stage, and their quality and sophistication will continue to be at the forefront of winemaking.
Thomas Sommerfield
Auburn Hills, Mich.
If "savvy New World marketers" start using aluminum screw caps (with pilfer-proof and easy-open/reseal features), I believe they would increase their lead over the French growers. Or, if the French went to this type of closure vs. hard-to-open and difficult corks, they might regain some of the market.
Jerome Bonat
Fort Lee, N.J.
The Buick Rendezvous: Still Gathering Speed
I feel compelled to respond to your conclusion about the success of our all-new Buick Rendezvous ("Can Lutz help steer GM out of its slide?" (News: Analysis & Commentary, Aug. 20-27).
We are in the beginning stages of the Rendezvous launch. Our first full month of sales was May, and our advertising began to air in late June. Buick dealers are just now achieving full retail inventory. Given that, Rendezvous still outsold the Acura MDX by over 300 units in July. Additionally, sales of all premium crossover vehicles except Rendezvous and the BMW X5 declined last month. We expect to achieve in excess of 35,000 sales this year and 50,000-60,000 sales annually thereafter. Equally important, Rendezvous is demonstrating success in attracting new customers to our dealers' showrooms.
Let's hold off making a decision about Rendezvous' success until [our] efforts have been tested in the market and facts are in to back up the conclusion.
Roger W. Adams
General Manager
Buick Motor Div.
General Motors Corp.
Detroit
Setting the Record Straight on Royal Bank of Scotland
"All that glitters" (International Business, Aug. 13) seriously misrepresents the record of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and its subsidiary, Citizens Financial Corp.
The story mentions the Group's recent agreement to acquire the retail bank franchise of Mellon Financial Corp. and then states: "You have to have an American presence, the thinking goes. The trouble is, you also have to make a profit."
The acquisition of Citizens and its subsequent growth in a series of acquisitions is by far the most successful in the U.S. of any British bank. Royal Bank of Scotland was the only British banking group to be consistently successful with its U.S. acquisitions, and its U.S. subsidiary was the only one to have remained profitable during the previous U.S. recession.
Howard Moody
Group Director, Communications
Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Edinburgh
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