French wine consumption has fallen over 60% since 1960. This is not merely a public health story — it is a geopolitical and economic signal whose implications extend far beyond France.

Taste is not innate — it is inherited. How France built a global system of gustatory power, and why understanding this gives international executives a measurable strategic edge.

From royal ceremony to contemporary social performance: an anatomy of power at the French table, and why every gesture still signals rank to those who know how to read it.