Thanksgiving and wine

As thanks are given today by all Americans, and as I plunge into another day of tasting the delicious 2007 vintage in Châteauneuf-du-Pape on behalf of all purple pagers, let us give thanks for all the great wine made in the world today, and for the fact that it looks as though we may be paying less for it – in the short term anyway – unless of course we are paying in pounds sterling. (Cue emoticon.)

The fine wine market is softening nicely. The mass retailers are squeezing their suppliers tighter and tighter. And none of the wine producers I have spoken to recently would dare increase their prices, even though the two most recent vintages have been relatively small. 

Meanwhile, even the Champenois are chasing customers. There is some shimmer of a silver lining to the financial crisis for wine lovers at least, for which let us give hearty thanks.