French Wine
Overview
French Wine
Overview
FRENCH WINE
A SHORT INTRODUCTION
Oh yes, French wine… In spring and summer, the whole of Paris drinks rosé, and in winter, people like to go for a full-bodied red wine. And champagne, the most famous sparkling wine in the world, the drink of models and film stars, naturally also comes from France.
Opinions differ as to whether it was Greek immigrants in Marseille or the Etruscans in Latara who brought wine to France. What is certain, however, is that wine is considered a staple food in France to a certain extent, and it is a must at a classic French déjeuner or dinner.
You thought France was the largest wine producer in the world? In fact, this only applies to rosé. Overall, first place in terms of litres actually goes to Italy – even though France has almost one million hectares of vineyards spread over around 400 protected growing areas.
After all, taste is debatable. That’s why we’re not giving you any specific wine recommendations here, but rather helping you to find your way through the jungle of grape varieties, regions of origin and designations. But even here we are only scratching the surface, because the subject of wine is complicated and simply cannot be broken down into a single article.
Let’s get started with our mini-mini wine glossary!
FRENCH WINE
MINI-GLOSSAR
Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP) roughly means “protected designation of origin”. In some cases, the older version “AOC” (“Contrôlée” instead of “Protégée”) is still used. Wines with AOP on the label come from a specific growing region and must fulfil defined criteria for this region (e.g. use of certain grape varieties, production conditions). These are defined and monitored by the “Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité” (INAO). After “AOP” on the bottle, you will find the name, either that of the region or the village or simply “Villages”, which means that the wine comes from a specific village in the growing region, which is not necessarily stated. In addition to AOP wines, there are also IGP wines (wines from a specific region), which are subject to EU criteria (although these are more relaxed than those for AOP wines) and VdF wines (Vin de France) without an indication of origin.
Château is the name for a production facility. Unfortunately, it does not always have its own château, but when it does, the labels are often decorated with a noble drawing of it.
Crémant is a sparkling wine with bottle fermentation that does not come from Champagne and therefore cannot be called champagne. In France, it comes from the Loire, Burgundy or Alsace, among other places, and is labelled accordingly, for example “Cremant d’Alsace”. A great alternative to champagne, you can get a good crémant for less than EUR 10, and it is definitely of a higher quality than a cheap champagne for EUR 5 more.
Cru: It says “Grand Cru” on the bottle – that must be a top wine, right? Yes, it is a sign of quality. However, the exact name varies from region to region, as each has its own classifications. In Champagne, for example, the “Grand Cru” is the top category, while in Bordeaux it is the “Premier Grand Cru Classé”.
Cuvée: Unlike in Germany, cuvée does not necessarily mean a blend of several wines! In Champagne, it refers to the high-quality must from the first pressing. In all other regions, a cuvée is simply a bottling from a wine estate. This can be a blend (known as an assemblage in France), but can also be wine from a single vineyard.
Domaine: A winery can call itself a domaine if it produces all of its wine itself – from cultivation to bottling.
Mise en bouteille: Indicates where the wine was bottled. As only a domaine by definition bottles itself, you will often find “Mise en bouteille au château” on the label to communicate that the wine was bottled at the place of cultivation.
Propriétaire are the owners of the winery, not necessarily the same as the name of the winery.
WHERE DOES THE WINE COME FROM?
WINE REGIONS AND GROWING AREAS
There are a total of thirteen wine regions with more than 400 appellations (protected growing areas). We present four regions here:
Bordeaux (Bordelais)
Probably the best-known French wine region, located south-west of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, which join to form the Gironde, it is not far from the Atlantic Ocean. To the left of the Gironde, mainly the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety is cultivated, to the right mainly Merlot and the white wines Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon. There are 52 protected growing areas. Médoc and St.-Émilion are among the better-known names, but comprise several appellations, so that various name combinations (e.g. Haut-Médoc or Puisseguin-St.-Émilion) are possible. Napoleon III introduced the first classification system for wines in Bordeaux in 1855 (Premier Grand Cru to Cinquième Grand Cru). It is still used today, but as it did not cover all areas, four other systems have since been developed.
Burgundy (French: Bourgogne)
This region between Dijon and Lyon has the most appellations, namely more than 90. The monks in the Middle Ages decisively promoted viticulture and laid the foundation for today’s fame as a wine region. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the most widely cultivated varieties. The wine-growing areas also indicate the quality levels: The simplest wines are labelled Bourgogne. The next level up already has the growing region in its name, e.g. Beaujolais, Chablis or Côte d’Or. This is followed by wines with a place name, e.g. Pommard. If the wine only comes from a single vineyard, it may also be labelled Climat or Lieu-dit. The best wines are then crowned with the designation Prémier Cru and the very best as Grand Cru. All clear? 😉
Champagne
A good Syrah or Riesling can come from anywhere – a Champagne can only come from Champagne. Sparkling wines from outside Champagne have to be called something else, for example “Crémant” in France and “Cava” in Spain. There are four major growing regions: The Marne Valley, the mountains of Reims, Côte de Blancs and Aube.
What makes champagne so special? Experts say it is the special combination of climate, terrain and soil characteristics, known as “terroir”, as well as the strictly defined production methods. Of course, the limited quantity available also contributes to this, as the area under cultivation is only around 34,500 hectares and each winegrower is only allowed to produce a certain amount each year. Three grape varieties are used 95 per cent of the time: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The grapes are pressed three times, the first pressing is called “Cuvée” and represents the highest quality level. However, the quality also depends on the different sites: Grand Cru (best site), Premier Cru and Cru Périphérique. In particularly good years, a vintage champagne is produced, the French designation is Millésime.
Alsace
Wine has been cultivated here in eastern France since the year 900. The classification system is comparatively simple. There are three appellations: Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru and Crémant d’Alsace. Grand Cru may only come from four grape varieties: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat. Alsace can also consist of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chasselas or Sylvaner. For the “Edelzwicker”, different grape varieties are blended, otherwise the wines consist of only one variety, which is then usually labelled. Additional awards are: Vendange Tardive (late harvest) and Sélection de Grains Nobles (“berry selection”).
The other wine regions are: Corse (Corsica), Jura, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Lorraine, Provence, Savoie-Bugey, Sud-Ouest, Vallée du Rhone.
Of course, we can’t leave it at that with the recommendations 😉 So when it comes to buying wine: Of course, all supermarkets in Paris have a well-stocked wine section. But why not take the opportunity to go to a wine shop and get some advice! It doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
The Nicolas wine shop was founded in 1822 and was the first to bottle wine for private consumption. There are now almost 500 shops in France. On its website, the company promises in its vision to find the right wine for every customer, and in our experience this is true. Look for the yellow “Nicolas” on a red background, say your price limit, whether it should be red, white or rosé, which variety or flavours you like or what food or occasion you want to drink the wine with.
Where to buy wine
in Paris
New tip!
Les Caves du Louvre
Anne was once again on the road for Museos when it came to wine. She tested the wine tasting incl. guided tour in the Caves du Louvre for us!
Anne is a trained wine expert and really enjoyed this trip – and learnt something new too!
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2021 – 2024
With the support of Anne Okolowitz
