France

 

When one thinks of wine, most likely he or she will think of France. So let's start to have a study on the wine producing regions in France, the largest wine-producing country in the world. It has a wide range of different climate, with ocean, sea, and the continent influence, as well as different soil types. One of the things that set France apart from the other wine-producing countries is the attention to control, with the famous Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC), started in 1920s, restricting the use of geographical name to wines made in a precisely specified area, along with the grape varieties, maximum crop per hectare, minimum ripeness, how vines are grown, and to a certain extent how wines are made. It is administered by INAO. However, nowadays there are constant debates as to whether this AOC system restricts or help the French wines compete with the New World. Just below AOC, the VDQS, only constitute 1% of the harvest. The second largest category is in fact the Vins de Pays (VDP). At the bottom is the Vins de Table (VDT).

When looking at the wine label you may notice some terms which I would like to explain:

• Blanc - white
• Mis (en bouteille) au chateau - estate-bottled wine made by the same enterprise that grew the grapes
• Rouge - red
• Vieilles Vignes - old vines

The famous wine regions in France include: Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Rhone, plus Alsace, Beaujolais, Chablis, Jura, Loire, Provence, Savoie and SW France. The largest quantity of wine actually coming from Languedoc-Roussillon. Subsequently I will give a more detailed sharing on each region, and drilling down into the commune and village level, to share with you the tasting of the wines coming from different producers. Stay tuned!!