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French wines: something for everyone

30/04/2020 Production area

When we think of France we often think of a romantic setting for the perfect love story. The capital, Paris, is said to be the most romantic city in the world.

France is also known for wine: whites and reds, elegant bubbles, glamourous rosés, sweet liquid gems and some more unusual wines like those made under a yeast cap. Every winemaking style in this country produces excellent results.

french wines

There are most definitely French wines for all tastes. So, here is a quick look at some of best-known regions; let’s go on a journey through the extraordinary landscape filled with vineyards and châteaux.

The most outstanding wine regions in France.

Burgundy, with its elegance and delicacy.

One of the things that has made Burgundy wines so famous and full of character is the soil composition in the vineyards. The vines are planted in limestone with the remains of marine fossils, because this land was covered by the sea around 200 million years ago. Isn’t that fascinating?

There are two unrivalled star varieties in this wine region: Pinot Noir, which creates some of the most subtle, elegant and expensive reds on the planet, and Chardonnay, a white grape that has also made a name for itself and has put Burgundy white wines on a level with the best and most sought-after red wines in the world

Bordeaux, the home of legendary cult red wines.

Bordeaux has an exceptional geography and climate thanks to its proximity to the Atlantic coast and the influence of the two rivers that run through it. These also serve as a natural border between production areas: the Dordogne river and the Garonne river.

Unlike Burgundy, Bordeaux, a region in southwest France, mostly makes red wines. In fact, about 90% of production is red.

There are some amazing vineyards in the Graves and Médoc sub-regions on the left bank of the Garonne river, producing powerful and long-lasting wines made mainly with the Cabernet Sauvignon variety. The most subtle and elegant Bordeaux wines come from the right bank of the Dordogne river. These are mainly made with the Merlot variety but there are also coupages with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is where we find two of the greatest winemaking sub-regions in the world: Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, birthplace of perhaps the most sought-after wine in the world, the famous Petrus.

Côtes Du Rhône, home of the Syrah grape.

With around 80 thousand hectares, the Rhone Valley is the second largest high-quality vine growing region in the world.

Its great Syrah red wines are well-known but wines are also made with the Garnacha, Cinsault and Mourvèdre varieties. Rosé wines are also made and, to a lesser extent, white wines, including some very interesting wines made from grapes like Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Clairette, Garnacha Blanca and Muscat.

Côte Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage and Châteauneuf-du-Pape are just a few of the famous names.

Loire Valley, where Sauvignon Blanc reigns absolute.

The Loire Valley is the third largest wine region by size, and is home to two stand-out areas known for their great white wines: Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé.

Sancerre is the home of white wines with marked acidity made from the Sauvignon Blanc variety, with a certain smoky minerality and a marked herbal character. Wines made in Pouilly-Fumé are similar in style but their barrel aging process gives them a less herbal character than Sancerre wines. Burgundy is a producer of coveted, elegant Chardonnay wines but it’s the smoky, mineral Sauvignon Blanc wines that rule in the Loire Valley.

La Provence, où on voit la vie en rose.

Édith Piaf sang about it; in Provence you really do see life through rose tinted glasses.

Located in the south of France, lying on the Mediterranean coast, surrounded by olive trees, lavender fields and with around 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, this French region has proven that rosé wines can be full of elegance, class and plenty of glamour.

Vineyards here grow Garnacha, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Syrah and Tibouren varieties. The latter is a red variety that is native to the area, and produces the world’s best-known and most sought-after rosé wines, which make up more than 60% of the region’s wine production. The region also produces red wines and white wines, although to a lesser degree, using the Rolle, Ugni Blanc, Clairette, Marsanne, Roussanne and Garnacha Blanca varieties.

Alsace, the most German French wines.

Alsace is a small region lying on the border between France and Germany and is known all around the world for its extraordinary dry and fragrant white wines made from the Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris varieties that compete with the renowned German white wines that are made across the Rhine river.

Its geographical location in the north-west of the country has the Rhine river on one side and the natural border of the Vosges mountain range on the other. The soils here are composed of granite, limestone, gneiss, sandstones and shales. These characteristics make Alsace a unique wine region that is completely different from the rest of France.

Côtes du Jura, a great and undiscovered gem.

Perhaps because of its small size, remote location or minimal media presence, perhaps overshadowed by its neighbours, the great Burgundy wines, the Jura region is a small and unusual gem that every wine lover should know about.

Côtes du Jura is bordered to the north by Côte d’Or, Burgundy and lies in the massif with the same name. It is home to one of the oldest vineyards in France, and this is where one of the country’s most extraordinary and unique wines is made: Vin Jaune, which literally means “yellow wine”, because of its characteristic colour. This wine is highly influenced by the Spanish style of organically-aged Jerez wines. It is made with the Savagnin variety and following alcoholic fermentation, its ages in barrels under a yeast cap or voile in French. An amazing an unmissable French wine!

Whichever way you look at it, France is a tapestry of wines, landscapes, climates and varieties where the common thread is elegance and refinement, leading the way for many winemakers around the world to learn from. Why not continue this exciting journey through our selection of French wines? We think you will love them!

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