They haven't technically "pulled it off". They just keep doing it, despite infringing US-France trade agreements, but the trade agreements keep going because F

They haven't technically "pulled it off". They just keep doing it, despite infringing US-France trade agreements, but the trade agreements keep going because France is dependent on its US trade more than the US is dependent on its French trade. It's hard to enforce a law when the person breaking it is bigger than you. That said, I personally disagree with the law of denominations itself, and I think it's pretty clear by now that French wines have gotten worse in quality ever since strict denominations have been introduced, mostly because they're just another form of economic protectionism. One of the reasons Belgium produces the best and most varied beers is that nobody dictated what exactly defines beer. So, even in highly specialised beers, such as fruit beers, some breweries put the fruit before the first fermentation, others before the second, others ferment fruit juice separately and add it later, etc. Then everyone looks at what everyone else is doing and finds a way to improve their own product. I wrote an article about this a few years ago, in which I asserted that Belgium is like the YouTube of beer: http://alexandergalle.blogspot.com/2009/12/luxury-youtube-way.html http://alexandergalle.blogspot.com/2009/12/luxury-youtube-wa...