Troll: As seen on another site - "Pretention"

[David M. Bueker]

So this quote from a poster elsewhere caught my eye. I disagree of course. My guess is someone is ticked off that he can no longer afford the wines he used to enjoy, and is blaming the producing country rather than an expanding consumer base & plummeting dollar.

"IMO the pretention in France (especially today) goes beyond bottle size and shape. The market for French wine as a luxury "brand" is drifting away from the U.S."

Discuss.

Pretention is the act of being pretentious? New word for me. I'm very confused out of context. The French are pretentious because some regions/grapes use one bottle shape, and others use a different one? Does "The market for French wine as a luxury "brand" is drifting away from the U.S." mean most French top wines are depending less on US market? That's probably true.

I usually find it easier to open French wine if I pretention the corkscrew before I start to try to pull the cork out. Maybe that is this fellow's problem?

Otherwise, I cannot parse that statement into english.

BTW, thanks for trying to help me sell that quiescently vinified confection on that other site!

I'm with Dale - I'm a little confused as to that this person is getting at. If it's that French wine is pretentious because prices are going up, well at least it's not as pretentious as gasoline. And even if you keep it within the world of wine, how is Napa cab any less pretentious in terms of selling itself as a "luxury brand". Why single the French out?

I agree with others that this quote makes no sense. Comments like that usually say more about the person who made them and his/her ignorance of France than they do about France itself.

Although, to the degree that is the image - however misguided - I guess French winemakers have progress they can make with marketing.

Could it be because the French turn their noses up at fine California chablis and burgundy? With those fancy glass bottles!!

[David M. Bueker]

Heh, heh - a little context: the quote comes from a discussion that was loosely about how a California winemaker is avoiding oversize bottles. The perpetrator of the crime against the English language started out by offering his opinion that there are more oversized bottles coming out of France than California. The conversation devolved from there.