She also feels there should be a glass of wine on the tables to help digestion and "make people feel better".

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The question is why this lovely wine doesn't appear on more American tables more often, except in the blandest, "pizza white" versions of Pinot Grigio.

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"When it was lunchtime, I would see the stall-holders bring out their tables, bottles of Champagne, red wine and copious amounts of food, which they'd eat and drink in an atmosphere of laughter and shouting, " he says.

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Non-dancers are welcome to sit at any one of the tables that ring the dance floor, order a bottle of wine and observe the throngs of couples tangoing.

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The cosy restaurant resembles an Alps chalet with wooden walls and tables, and stays true to its southeastern France namesake, serving red wine broth and raclette cheese fondue alongside Parma ham, duck, shrimp and roast potatoes.

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And finally they ignored the elementary rule that children rarely choose their parents' drinks, which meant that the young Chinese, often educated in America, took to wine or beer, disdaining the bottle of cognac which had formed the centrepiece of their parents' dining tables.

ECONOMIST: Spirits