I often wonder what the
Vintners buy
One half so precious as the
Stuff they sell.
Omar Khayyam
Among countries where wine is considered less precious than cash are France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Hungary, Tunis and Greece.
Covertly these nations have been perfecting means to sell more wine for more cash. Four years ago they signed not a secret but a very discreet treaty which became operative last year, establishing The International Wine Bureau, in Paris. Although the treaty was duly deposited with the League of Nations, it has never been officially printed. But perhaps its quasi-secret text came last summer under the eye of...