French Wine: As American as Apple Pie

Anyone raised on TV of the 1970s certainly remembers that old commercial with the catchy tune:

They go together, in the good ol’ U-S-A.
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and ….

Pouilly-Fuissé?

That was the in the jingle, right?

It certainly could have been. A little twist for the annual holiday that celebrates American Independence: Toast the country that not only helped get us here, it was also responsible for more than a few American icons.

How? Here are five reasons to drink French wine on the 4th of July:

1. The Marquis de Lafayette, The original Rebel With a Cause. The French nobleman was just a teenager when he began fighting on the side of the colonies during the Revolutionary War, and eventually became friends with the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. His status and wealth in his home country was instrumental in drumming up French support for the Americans during the war.
2. The French had great timing. The country sent its navy to Yorktown in 1781, blocking forces led by British Gen. Cornwallis until other American and French units could position themselves for the decisive battle in our Siege of Yorktown. After that, it was all over, and when it came time to make it official, they all went to Paris to sign the Treaty of Paris.
3. Pierre L’Enfant. He came to America to help fight the British and became a trusted aide to Washington. And when the war was over, he stuck around to design the city that would become our nation’s capital. If you’ve ever walked up and down the National Mall, you have L’Enfant to thank. It was all his idea.
4. Four cents an acre: That’s what the Louisiana Purchase amounted to. On April 30, 1803, the U.S. agreed to pay $15 million for about 828,000 square miles of land that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. Included in that land deal was some really great wine-growing country. Must have been in the fine print or the French might not have parted with it.
5. Lady Liberty. Arguably the most iconic symbol of our country, “The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” was a gift of friendship from the people of France on the occasion of the American Centennial in 1876, and dedicated 10 years later in 1886. It’s been welcoming the “tired, poor huddled masses yearning to breath free” to our country ever since.

French wine on an All-American holiday? Oui!

And we’ve got a great suggestion: Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuissé. Produced with Chardonnay grapes in the southern part of the Burgudy region, Pouilly Fuissé is the top of the Mâconnais wines, in the heart of the great whites appellations (Fuissé, Pouilly Loché, Pouilly Vinzelles and Saint Véran). What does that mean? It’s the French; they know how to grow grapes.

Back to that jingle, with one more reason to toast the French:

Baseball. Hot Dogs. Apple Pie and Chevrolet.

Chevrolet, is, of course, a division of General Motors, named after Louis Chevrolet, the Swiss race-car driver of French descent. Chevys were cool back in the 70s, and the name rolled off the tongue like fine French wine.

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