Steve wrote on Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:33:58 +0000:

??>> I must admit that I was not aware of Stevenson's
??>> reputation but the web site seemed a paraphrase of the
??>> information I have seen from the Champagne Growers
??>> Cartel.

SS> Did the "Champagne Growers Cartel" also criticise the
SS> dismissal of the echelle system and the way yields are
SS> managed?

You are getting way beyond my knowledge of champagne and I don't
really care what is the correct name for the growers
association. I'm a consumer not a producer but I've always had a
suspicion of organizations that restrict production and tell me
it is for my own good and others that allow expansion for
themselves but try to prevent others using names. I have to
admit that the French-owned Champagne companies do make good,
possibly the best, "California Champagnes" even if they don't
want to call them that.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not