Proust Questionnaire: France vs. Italy

John’s Italian Revelations and Sara’s French Confessions

Marcel Proust

John Szabo and I have decided to go head to head with the theme of France vs. Italy. In order to keep this debate entertaining, I have adapted the “Proust Questionnaire” to both French and Italian wine thematics. If this popular parlour game from the 20s is new to you, you can find the unadulterated version widely online. The Proust Questionnaire was not written by the French novelist Marcel Proust but rather popularized due to his responses. A revelation of one’s true nature is thought to come in answering these questions. We have each responded to as many of the 35 questions as came naturally and immediately. Up to you whose responses are most persuasive. Please do contribute your answers to the thread below! – Sara d’Amato

John’s ITALIAN Revelations

What Italian wine region makes you most happy?

Piemonte, Tuscany and Campania (felix!)

What is your greatest fear for the Italian wine industry?

The climate gets too hot to make great wine

What is the trait you most deplore about Italian wine?

Making dry wine out of raisins

Which living Italian winemaker do you most admire?

Countless…

What is the greatest Italian extravagance?

White truffles

What is your current state of mind?

Happy

What Italian wine do you lie about not liking?

Super Tuscans…

What is the most overused winemaking technique in Italy?

Appasimento

What is Italy’s most underrated wine or region?

Aglianico del Vulture

What is the quality you most like in a white wine?

Acid

What is the quality you most like in a red wine?

Savoury flavours

Which words or phrases do you most overuse in wine reviews?

Clean, succulent, sapid, fleshy, rich

What is Italian wine’s most romantic quality?

History, deep regionals connections, connections to the table/food

When and where were you happiest in Italy?

Siena, 1995

Which Italian personality trait would you most like to have?

Outrageous hand gestures, swagger

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I’d like to sing like Freddy Mercury

What do you consider Italy’s greatest achievement?

Spreading wine and wine culture across Europe. Also pretty nice art, cars, shoes, fashion, food, film, Literature…

If you were to die and come back as a Italian personality or thing, what would it be?

Marcello Mastroianni

Where would you most like to live in Italy?

Langhe Hills

What is your favorite Italian dish?

Pici al ragù di cinghiale

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery in Italian history or culture?

Mussolini

What is your favorite wine occupation?

Writing/telling stories

What is Italian wine’s most marked characteristic?

Firm and savoury

What do you most value in your Italian wine friends?

Ahh, such passione!

Who are your favorite Italian writers?

Dante, Macchiavelli, Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Cesare Paves, Ignazio Silone

Who is your Italian hero of fiction?

Gian Burrasca

What are your favorite Italian names?

Giulietta, Antonella, Marco, Giuseppe

What is it that you most dislike about Italy?

Traffic, bureaucracy

What is Italy’s most easy to love grape?

Montepulciano

How would you like to go if you were to die in Italy?

Skiing, cycling or climbing in the Alps

What would be Italy’s wine motto if it was up to you?

Italian Wine: It’s for your mouth*

*Stolen from Brad Royal’s Kitten Swish brand

Sara’s FRENCH Confessions

What French wine region makes you most happy?

The Rhône Valley, Provence

What is your greatest fear for the French wine industry?

Clonal weakening, global warming

What is the trait you most deplore about French wine?

Insistence on corks

Which living French winemakers do you most admire?

Jean-Paul Jamet and Michel Gassier and many more

What is the greatest French extravagance?

Foie gras

What is your current state of mind?

Torrid

What do you consider the most overrated virtue of French wine?

Classification systems that don’t evolve, Zero dosage sparkling wine

What French wine do you lie about not liking?

Beaujolais Nouveau

What is the most overused winemaking technique in France?

Direct Pressing

What is France’s most underrated wine or region?

The Jura

What is the quality you most like in a white wine?

Verve

What is the quality you most like in a red wine?

Fruit-derived spice, garrigue

Which words or phrases do you most overuse in wine reviews?

Compelling, tense, fleshy, mineral

What is French wine’s most romantic quality?

Its seductive perfume

When and where were you happiest in France?

In front of a savory bowl of Bouillabaisse sitting in the Vieux Port of Marseille

Which French personality trait would you most like to have?

Frankness, trenchancy and a strong sense of irony

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Punctuality

What do you consider France’s greatest achievement?

Braille, pasteurization, the metric system, bicycles with pedals, popularization of atheism, progressive feminism and an enduring revolutionary spirit

If you were to die and come back as a French personality or thing, what would it be?

Simone de Beauvoir

Where would you most like to live in France?

Collioure

What is your favorite French dish?

Raclette, Bouillabaisse

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery in French history or culture?

Robespierre’s Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, France’s capitulation in WWII

What is your favorite wine occupation?

Vigneron

What is French wine’s most marked characteristic?

A slave to terroir

What do you most value in your French wine friends?

Their conviction and ‘joie de vivre’

Who are your favorite French writers?

Voltaire, The Marquis de Sade, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Charles Beaudelaire, George Sand, Honore de Balzac

Who is your favourite French hero of fiction?

Justine, Candide

Which French historical figure do you most identify with?

Anaïs Nin

What are your favorite French names?

Loïc, Maël, Coco

What is it that you most dislike about France?

Bureaucracy, the current climate of intolerance (thankfully opposed by many)

What is France’s most easy to love grape?

Merlot, of course!

How would you like to go if you were to die in France?

Drowning in a Mediterranean tempest

What would be France’s wine motto if it was up to you?

“The most violent, the most pure, the most heady.” (words from Serge Gainsbourg)

Find great wines from Italy and France in our VINTAGES Buyers Guide for October 26th, 2019.