- Alsace
- Bordeaux
- Burgundy
- Beaujolais
- Champagne.
- Côtes
du Rhone
- Jura
- Languedoc
- Loire
Valley
- Médoc
- Provence
- South-west
Situated on the lower eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains,
in the Rhine valley between Strasbourg and Mulhouse,
the Alsace vineyard is rather different from any other French wine growing
area. Like the region of Alsace itself, the wine culture here
is steeped in a Germanic tradition, producing mostly dry or fruity white wines,
the most popular being Riesling, Sylvaner and the very fruity Gewurztraminer.
The rules of Appellation contrôlée - and more recently
of Appellation Protégée(AOP) are not applied in the same way in
Alsace as in the rest of France. In Alsace, wines are produced under a simple
"Alsace" appellation, after which the next most important element to
be indicated, and the most visible word on the label, is the grape variety or
"cépage", Sylvaner, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Edelzwicker, Pinot or a
few others. Smaller areas do not have their own appellations, though with many
Alsace wines, the name of the village or vineyard from which it comes will also
be indicated. See also Vendanges tardives.
Lorraine, also in north east France, produces mostly Vin de pays white
wines, in the Meuse and the Moselle.
Bordeaux
Wine, and wine growing region. With Burgundy and
Champagne, the Bordeaux region of Aquitaine is one of the
three most famous French wine-producing regions. Historically, its fame is at
least in part due to the fact that of these three big grape-growing areas, the
Bordeaux vineyard is the only one with immediate access to the sea, an
advantage that has enabled it to be France's major wine exporting region for
many centuries.
In 1152, when queen Eleanor of Aquitaine married the English king Henry II, the
Aquitaine region became economically integrated into the Anglo-Norman world,
the Bordeaux region becoming the main supplier of wine for England. This
historic wine exporting tradition helped Bordeaux to develop far stronger
commercial links in the ensuing centuries, firmly establishing Bordeaux wines,
often referred to generically in English as "clarets", on the
international market.
The Bordeaux
vineyard is centered round the port city of Bordeaux , along
the estuary of the Gironde, and the rivers Garonne and Dordogne.
It is a large vineyard, and the geo-specific appellation "Bordeaux"
covers an area stretching some 100 km both north-south and east-west.
While the appellation contrôlée covers wines of medium
quality from all over this region, many if not most of the top quality clarets
grown in the overall area benefit from more specific and distinctive area
appellations, such as Médoc , Graves or Saint
Emilion, and even more local appellations such as Pauillac, Graves and
Saint-Estèphe.
Unlike other French wine-growing areas, the Bordeaux area operates
classifications of many of its top wines, notably those from the Médoc and Saint
Emilion vineyards. The best estates in these areas have the right to
sell wines designated as grand cru. Below the grand crus come other
high quality wines designated as cru bourgeois.
Tip: 2009 is said to be an exceptionally good vintage year.
Médoc
Among the Bordeaux vineyards, Médoc deserves a special
mention. The Médoc, an area south of the Gironde estuary to the north west
of Bordeaux, is the home of many of the most prestigious
French wines. Among the famous appellations produced in this area
are Saint Estèphe, Margaux, Saint Julien and Pauillac. It was in 1855 that the
wine producers of the Medoc region classified their 61 best wines according to
a league table of "grands crus", ranking from "Premier Cru"
to "Cinquième Cru". These grands crus are generally reputed to be the
greatest of all French wines, and naturally their prices generally reflect this
status. Obviously, if you buy an estate bottled wine from a chateau with grand
cru status, (and of course they are all estate bottled), you can be pretty sure
of getting a top quality wine. But take care! Even a grand cru wine can go off
if it is not matured and cared for in the best conditions.
Inland and southwards from the Bordeaux / Saint
Emilion regions, there are a number of less well-known wine growing
areas, many of them producing quite good wines at very reasonable prices.
These include Bergerac, Cahors, Gaillac and Marcillac (all Appellation
Contrôlée wines) , or Côtes du Tarn or Vin de Pays du Lot. While Marcillac is a
small area, the vineyards of Cahors, Gaillac and Bergerac are quite extensive,
and best known for their reds. The Cahors area produces some of the richest and
darkest red wines in France, principally using the Malbec grape variety,
sometimes referred to as "purple wine". However the Bergerac wine
producing area is also known for its white wines, including some strong sweet
aperitif wines such as Montbazillac
Towards the Pyrenees, there are some surprisingly good white wines
from the vineyards of Jurançon and Béarn, notably
Pacherenc-du-Vic-Bilh, reputed for its distinctive aperitif wines. Close
by, the vineyards of Madiran produce a well-known red.
The vineyards of the Burgundy region cover
a narrow strip of land on the eastern slopes of the hills running south-east
from the Burgundian Capital, Dijon. the heart of the Burgundy wine
growing region is the historic city of Beaune, where the autumn
wine sale in the historic "Hospices" building is one of the high
points of the wine year. Burgundy wines are classified on four levels, the
lowest being the generic "Bourgogne" appellation. Selected areas of
the Burgundy vineyard have their own classifications, such as Côtes de Beaune.
Within these, there are smaller areas, villages and groups of villages, reputed
to produce higher quality wine, such as Mersault, Pernand Vergelesse or Aloxe
Corton . Finally, at the top of the pyramid, there are
the "grands crus", such as Clos Vougeot, with its mere 51
hectares of vineyard. Finding ones way around Burgundy wines is sometimes a
daunting task. The best Burgundy wines are the reds, the best of which can keep
for a good 20 to 30 years. However, Burgundy also produces some top quality,
though not too distinctive, whites. It is often said that generic burgundies
"Bourgogne Rouge" or Bourgogne Passetoutgrains" white are
overpriced and not particularly good value for money.
A good tip: 2003 is said to be one of the best vintages for many years.
Visit: Check out hotels on the Burgundy wine trail
In the south of the Burgundy region, bordering the Rhone
valley vineyards, a large area round Beaujeu produces a light red wine known as
Beaujolais, paradoxically one of the most famous French wines. This is a wine
that does not usually keep for very many years, and over the last fifty years
it has been successfully marketed as a "vin primeur", or young
wine, to be drunk after just a few weeks of maturing. But the success of
Beaujolais Nouveau - launched on the market each year on the third Thursday of
November - has more to do with clever marketing than with any real quality of
the wine.
The Champagne region, centered on the towns of
Reims (Rheims) and Epernay, is the most northern of France's major vineyards.
Unlike most of the best French wines, champagnes are blended in order to produce
either non vintage champagnes (blended from different years) or vintage
champagne, blended from wines of the same harvest. Consequently, since the
quality of the champagne ultimately depends on a balance between the quality of
the grapes and the skill of the blenders, Champagnes are also ranked and
promoted by producer, not by any more finely delimited appellation . Possibly
the most highly rated of blends is Krug; other well appreciated brands include
Mumm, Bollinger and Heidsieck, not to mention the very well known brands of
Moët & Chandon and Taittinger.
The distinct taste and purity of real champagne is certainly due to the chalky
soil and the continental growing conditions that abound in the Champagne
region. Several of the main French Champagne producers have set up branches and
vineyards in California, but in spite of bringing over their best
master-blenders, have never been able to achieve quite the same result.
Although many people imagine that Champagnes are all white, this is not quite
true. Rosé champagnes also exist.
Note: Champagne is not a generic term
for sparkling wine from France. There are plenty more good
sparkling wines from France that are not sold as champagne. While
it is true to say that the top champagnes are inimitable, it is far from true
to imagine that you have to buy a real champagne if you want a good
French sparkling wine. Some other excellent sparkling wines are produced in
Burgundy (Crémant de Bourgogne), the Jura (Crémant du Jura)
and the Loire valley (Vouvray and others) and other areas, using
the same techniques (formerly called "méthode champenoise" - an
expression now banned from use in other regions) and a similar but not
identical mix of grape varieties, notably Chardonnay. Only the most experienced
connaisseurs can distinguish a middling Champagne from a good crémant or
Vouvray... yet non-Champagne sparkling wines sell at a fraction of the price of
equivalent quality wines from Champagne.
Finally, please, the correct way to open a champagne cork is to ease it
very gently out of the bottle. It is not to imitate a victorious Formula One
racing driver and spray the contents of the bottle all over one's guests.
Loire Valley
Although there are some excellent wines produced in the
large Loire Valley area, there are few Loire wines, whites,
rosés or pale reds, that rank among the greatest French wines. "Anjou
Rosé" is a good everyday rosé, and "Muscadet" and "Gros
Plant" from near the mouth of the Loire are dry white wines that go
excellently with seafood.. Another good appellation is "Pouilly Fumé"
(not to be confused with "Pouilly Fuissé", a white Burgundy). The
Loire valley, however, is also France's second largest producer of sparkling
wines, after Champagne. The region also produces vin gris, "grey
wine", which is actually a very pale rosé, being a white wine made from
black grapes. Two of the more prestigious varieties are Vouvray and Saumur.
While there are plenty of Loire wines that benefit from appellations
controlées, others are sold under the VDQS label.
Cognac: / Charentes:
The Cognac / Charentes region is a major
wine area, though normal wine itself is not the main product of the region; the
wine produced is mostly used for distilling into Cognac or other spirits, or
else for the production of a delicious apéritif wine known as Pineau des
Charentes. Some white wine is produced under the Vin de Pays label, and there
are some vineyards that produce rosé or even red wines.
Jura.
Possibly the most underrated of French white wines, Jura
wines come from the south of the Franche-Comté region, the
west-facing slopes of the Jura hills that look out across the wide Saône valley
to the slopes of Burgundy on the other side. The best and most distinctive of
Jura whites are made from the "Savagnin" grape variety, which is
found only in this region, and gives the wine a delicious sherry-like taste.
However, most Jura wines are blended from different varieties, and as in
Alsace, the grape variety tends to be indicated on the label. the Jura vineyard
also produces dark rosé wines, sometimes called reds, as well as the famous
"yellow wine", Vin Jaune, an expensive apéritif wine not
unlike Amontillado sherry, made exclusively from the Savagnin grape variety.
The most prestigious appellation for Vin Jaune is Château Chalon. This wine is
made from late harvested grapes, and then left to mature in casks for at least
six years.
Côtes du Rhone
Côtes du Rhône is one of those French wines that has become
famous on account more as a result of the extent of the vineyard than of
the quality of the wine. The Côtes du Rhône vineyard runs for over 200
kilometres down the Rhone valley from the south of Lyons to
the Camargue. Within the region, there are a number of prestigious
smaller areas such as Côte Rotie (in the northern part of the region),
Hermitage or Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas (near Avignon).
The southern end of the Côtes du Rhône appellation area isa
ctually in Provence.
The vast majority of Côtes du Rhône wine is sold under the generic
appellations, "Côtes du Rhône" or "Côtes du Rhone
Villages".
Côtes du Rhone wines are mediterranean wines, and generally
speaking they are blended from the different classic grape varieties of the
South of France, including most notably Viognier, Syrah, and Grenache.
Price-wise, generic Côtes du Rhône wines are often at the cheaper end of the
"appellation contrôlée" range.
Provence
Provence is a large wine-producing area,
best-known for its rosé wines, the most famous of which are Côtes de Provence
and Côteaux d'Aix. However, the Provence vineyard also produces red wines,
including some very rich red wines from the Var, and "grey wine" from
the Camargue area. The most famous of the area's white wines is Bandol,
celebrated since the middle ages. Note that the Provence vineyard also includes
the southern end of the Côtes du Rhone AOC area.
Languedoc
The Languedoc region, covering the
Mediterranean coastal plain west of the Rhone, produces a lot of fairly
ordinary red wine, much of it marketed as VDQS or Vin de Pays. Languedoc is the
largest French wine producing area in terms of volume. There
are seven Appellations controlées in the area, the best-known of which is
Corbières, and possibly the best average quality of which is Fitou. AOC wines
account for some 10% of the region's production, but the proportion is
increasing as Languedoc producers concentrate more on quality, rather than
quantity, and strive to reposition their wines higher up the market.
Thanks to the long hours of summer sun, grapes ripen well and quickly in this
region, which means that Languedoc wines are rich and full bodied, and often
have high alcohol content. The wines of Roussillon are very similar, this area
being particularly noted for its fortified wines such as Banyuls.
Rather different from the rest are the sparkling wines produced in
Limoux, near Carcassonne. "Blanquette de Limoux" is reputedly the
oldest sparkling wine in France; and according to the story, it was a
Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, who introduced the Limoux method of
producing good sparkling wine, to the monks in Champagne who were looking for
ways to improve the quality of their rather nondescript dry white wines.
Regarding Dom Pérignon, the myth is almost certainly untrue; but it is well
documented that Limoux was already producing sparkling wines in the
1540s, half a century before the technique took hold in Champagne.
