Word: wined
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...wine was harvested back in 1995 and first fermented slowly in small oak barrels, instead of the more commonly used stainless-steel vats. This gives it tremendous depth of character and toasty brioche notes, yet the fruit is surprisingly fresh and youthful - a flavor oxymoron that has become Krug's signature style...
Although the wine's taste is a revelation, the price also reflects the character of its production: it's 100% Pinot Noir, made from a single harvest from a single tiny vineyard. Most champagnes are traditionally blends of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes harvested from different vineyards (there are over 270,000 individual plots in Champagne) in different years...
...local farmers are demanding financial aid from Paris. But European Union rules limit how much help the French government can extend; Brussels has repeatedly urged growers to cut costs by letting nearly 500,000 acres of land lie fallow and by swapping plonk production for more expensive, higher-quality wine...
...That doesn't impress locals. "Many of these vineyard owners are committed to production and investment plans spanning 20 or 30 years," says a member of the regional wine sector, who asked not to be named due to the "vivid tension" the situation has created. "These aren't operations that can change strategy or cut production overnight...
...Quixotic as it may seem to outsiders, the group - and many Languedoc-Roussillon growers who support its aims while condemning the violence used to achieve them - want the French government to protect them from a rapidly globalizing market. Foreign wine from cheaper producers such as Italy, Spain, Australia, the U.S. and South America - where costs can be one-fifth those in France - has saturated the market and driven down demand for locally grown grapes. That has depressed the price Languedoc-Roussillon growers get for their crops up to 50% in recent years...