Wednesday, November 24, 2010

In vino blanco dulce veritas, in aqua sanitas (with apologies to Pliny the Elder)

This afternoon in an official ceremony headed up by President Cristina, Argentina declares wine to be its national drink. There's plenty of Spanish language coverage on this Google roundup link already, including quotes from suitable flunkies on how Argentine wine has developed an international reputation for quality, how exports account for 23% of the ARG$10.5Bn (U$2.64Bn) in sales, how this-grape-that-grape are the new stars etc etc.

Me? I agree fully that Argentina's national drink is wine and should be celebrated, but the real headline wine should be Termidor Blanco Dulce 1 litre Tetrapak. Anyone who's spent time in non-Barrio-Norte Buenos Aires should know why.