FRANCE - THE BIG LAND OF WINE
The Old World of wine has one uncrowned country and it is undoubtedly France. In terms of quality, culture, variety, the French wines are simply at the top. Although lots of pages may be written about the wine production there, we will try to make a shorter introduction on which French wines are of interest and where they are made. Of course, we cannot cover every interesting French wine on one page, and we'll write some more on this subject in the future (at the time of writing this article, this is the only page on French wines). So, let us get some introduction on the major wine producing regions in France and what to get out of there. Wine recommendations include both cheaper wines and those that are really, classicaly, expensive. Whether you have money or not, I always believed that at least once in a lifetime everyone should have some taste of the best. So, why not start saving a little money each month for a bottle of Chateau Margaux that you may drink on some special occasion within a couple of years?
A big actor on the market of wines is the region of Bordeaux, where the mentioned Margaux is playing. Bordeaux and red wines is like love and passion. There is a number of other top quality makers, including Mouton-Rothschild, Latour, and Lafite. They are all growing their grapes on gravel soils in Mèdoc, and the finest examples of wines are from Margaux, Pauillac, and St Julien - to mention some recommendations. What is common for Bordeaux wines is the wide variety of wines - variety in prices, red and white wines, dry and sweet wines - a lot to choose from and it's easy to get lost when you look in a wine catalogue under Bordeaux wines category. So, there is more to Bordeaux than Mèdoc. We also find places like Graves, Pomerol, and Saint-Émilion. They all have their own distinctive characeteristics of wine making. Pomerol is the place where the grapes Merlot and Cabernet Franc are blended into one of the most expensive wines in the world - Chateau Petrus. Merlot is also a primary grape used in Saint-Émilion. What about some white wines? In a region called sautérnes you can find one of the world's best sweet wines based on Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle grapes.
Another fine region to mention is Bourgogne, which is quite big and encompasses (from north to south) Chablis, Côte d'Or, Cote Chalonnaise, Maconnais, and Beaujolais. Chablis produces wines with the following grades of quality (age-dependent): petit chablis, chablis, chablis premier cru, and finally - chablis grand cru. The simple rule here is that the longer the wine is aged, and also in which barrels, the more majestic the wine becomes. The next region, Côte d'Or is actually divided into Cóte de Nuits (north) and Cóte de Beaune (south). A general rule, when it comes to these two regions is that the best red wines, especially Pinot Noirs, are from the north and the best white wines, based on Chardonnay grape, come from the south, so that should help you out in choosing the better wine.
Rhóne is another interesting French wine region, as it stretches itself following the Rhone river valley from the southern border of Bourgogne and all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea. Also here a general principle can be applied. Good wines in the north, and not so good in the south. One exception though - in the south, around the city of Avignon, the famous Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines are produced; they are made of 13 different grapes and are quite strong and spicy. The name of the wines literally means 'the new home of the Pope' and implies the fact that Avignon was the papal residency during 1310-1378 when internal conflicts in Rome forced the papal court to move away. In any case, the northern part of Rhóne grows their famous Syrah grape that is the fundament for fine wines from Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Cóte-Rótie, St Joseph, or Comas. For the lower prices, wines from Rhóne usually give most value for money in all France (from my experience). Especially the wines from Cóte du Rhóne-Villages are on this list.
The above three regions are the famous French wine producers. However, other fine wines can be found in other parts of France as well. In Alsace you can get very good white wines, especially the Rieslings or Pinot gris, or even Gewurztraminer. In Loire, and in particular in Sancerre and Puilly-Fumé you will find maybe the foremost Sauvignon Blanc wines. If you love this grape then you should consider trying some of these two producers. Lastly, let's end this short introduction to French wines with the region of Champagne - the famous drink here is made of a blend of one white grape sort (Chardonnay) and two red grapes (Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier), and the sole reason that a Champagne is not red is that the juice of the red grapes is pressed without damaging the red skin. Clever!
So much for the French wines for now. Look out for more articles that will build upon this short introduction, but for now why not try some of the wine recommendations?