French Wine Regions
My first review deals with French wines, as we could expect to. Indeed, I would like to introduce the main wine regions of France. As you can see in this map, France is really rich of wine diversity. Every region has a specialty thanks to a different weather, grasp, land…
Champagne: The wine Champagne comes from the region Champagne (about 90 miles from Paris). Although wine has been made in the Champagne region since Roman times, the bubbly wine we call Champagne was first made as the seventeenth century drew to a close. The story goes that Dom Pierre Pérignon, a Benedictine monk and the cellarmaster at the abbey of Haut-Villers, invented Champagne. However, agreeable the tale, Champagne was not created by Dom Pérignon (although he was important in its development) nor by any one person. Champagne was the curious result of both the work of many Champenois and the happenstance of nature.
Alsace: This is one of the rare wine regions in the world devoted almost exclusively to white wine. More than seven different varieties are common and, with few exceptions, they are whites rarely made in other parts of France. The most important grasp are Riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris, Muscat and pinot blanc.
Loire: The Loire is one of the Largest and most diverse wine regions in France. Virtually every type of wine is made there. The signature characteristic of all Loire wines is their zesty acidity.
The wines of the Loire can be divided into three broad areas: the western Loire near the Atlantic coast, which produce Muscadet; the eastern Loire far inland, the source of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé; and the middle Loire, where a vast number of different wines are made, including Savennières, Vouvray, Quarts de Chaume, Chinon and Bourgueil.
Burgundy (or Bourgognes): Burgundy is a fairly small wine region in central eastern France, makes some of the world’s most sought-after, expensive, and exquisite wines. The system of land ownership is complex. Burgundy has thousands of tiny vineyards, each of which has multiple owners. Two grape varieties dominate. All top white Burgundies are made from Chardonnay. All top reds come from pinot noir.
Bordeaux, the famous Bordeaux: The world alone fires the mind with the anticipation of greatness. No other wine region is powerful, more commercially clever, or more important as a source of profoundly complex, age worthy wines. More than 80 percent of the wine made is red. Five red grapes are used and they are almost always blended together. The two most important grapes are merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Bordeaux wines are about elegance and intensity of flavour; they are rarely massive or powerful. Both red and white Bordeaux are almost always blends of two or more varieties. In Bordeaux blending is used to achieve more complex flavors.
South West: Between the Bordeaux region and the Pyrénées, the South-West is a traditional wine region, probably even oldest than its neighbor. Wines from the South-West have often been confused with Bordeaux wines. But one must not conclude that those wines are of a lower quality. Nowadays wines from South West are of excellent quality for the value and should be recommended because of their unique personality based on local history and traditions.
Provence: Provence’s wines are both special and delicious. Provençal rosés (what everyone drink with the local cuisine) are famous for their refreshing slash of favor. The region’s reds (bold, concentrated, and distinctive) are creating a surge of new excitement. And Although the quality of the white wines ranges across the board the best of them are perfect with a plate of grilled fish.
Rhône: Côtes du Rhône is probably the most diverse wine region in France. From the very different full-body red wines of Côte Rôtie in the north and Châteauneuf du Pape in the south to the exquisite white wine of Condrieu and Château Grillet and the fruity red wines of Crozes Hermitage and of the southern Rhône region.
Languedoc Roussillon: I’ll try to be objective and don’t say that’s the best wine area in the world even if I think it! Indeed the wine region today considered to be one of the most exciting and innovative in France, the Languedoc Roussillon, was a place that until the 1990s few wine drinkers in the US had even heard of. Now, this region produces the third of all French wine. Several products from this region are known around the world, like for example sparkling and Crémant from Limoux.
