French wine: pure variety!
Everyone knows and appreciates French wine: Whether you are a wine connoisseur or a novice, wine from France is one of the most popular wines of all and is usually known for its unsurpassable quality.
2900 different wines are grown in France on approximately 800,000 hectares of diverse soil per year. France is ranked second in the world in terms of wine production and fourth when it comes to the size of the country’s vineyards. Around 40 million hectoliters of red wine, white wine and sparkling wine are produced in the country every year. And rightly so, because the French also like to enjoy a glass of wine with lunch.
French wine is actually from Greece
Immigrants from Greece settled in what is now Marseille around 600 BC and planned to grow vines they had brought with them for viticulture – but initially only for personal use. 200 years before Christ, the wine from southern France was discovered by the Romans and brought to other parts of the country during their campaigns and traded there. During the imperial period and with the founding of monasteries in the 12th and 13th centuries, viticulture experienced a boom in France.
In the Middle Ages, viticulture reached its peak, because at that time the French vineyards were at their greatest. It wasn’t the quality that was decisive, but the location: Wines were even grown north of Paris and in Brittany.
Viticulture survived in abundance over the coming years, including the French Revolution. There were only setbacks due to vine diseases and vermin infestation of vines. However, thanks to new technologies, cultivation was able to recover in the 20th century and France was able to make it to the international pinnacle of viticulture.
Where French wine is grown
All French wine-growing regions are topographically ideal between the 42nd and 52nd degree of latitude. Characterized by the mild and Mediterranean climate in the south and the harsh athletic climate in the north, a wide variety of wines are produced in various wine-growing regions. There are the following wine-growing regions in France:
- Bordeaux
- Burgundy
- Champagne
- Cognac
- Alsace
- Est
- Jura
- Corsica
- Languedoc-Roussillon
- Loire
- Provence
- Rhone
- Savoy
The grape varieties of wine from France
Too many different grape varieties are grown in France to list them all here. Therefore we would like to name only the most well-known grape varieties here:
- Cabernet Sauvignon (Rose, Red)
- Chardonnay (White)
- Chenin (White)
- Grenache (white)
- Grenache (noir) (rose, red)
- Malbec (Red)
- Merlot (rose, red)
- Muscat (White)
- Négrette (Rose, Red)
- Pinot Gris (White)
- Pinot Noir (Red)
- Rousanne (White)
- Sauvignon Blanc (White)
- Semillon (White)
French wine and its quality levels
Every wine in France is assigned a quality level due to strict regulations:
- AOP/AOC – the highest quality level of French wines, which carry more than 300 wine-growing regions
- V.D.Q.S. wines – Vins Délimités de Qualité Supérieur: the second quality class, which, however, is not much behind the top one and can convince with a very good price-performance ratio.
- Country wines – Vins de Pays: are below the VDQS wines in terms of quality and are mostly made from grape varieties that may not be used in some areas for the production of A.O.C. or V.D.Q.S. wines.
- Table wines – Vins de Table: the lowest quality level of French wines. These account for around 40% of the total production and are everyday, classic wines that are enjoyed every day with meals.
French wine at wine-love
Hopefully you have now learned a lot about French wine – and now you have to try it! In our wine shop and under this article you will already find a large selection of excellent wine from France. Cheers!
We carry many wines from France from different wineries.
You are interested in the wine and want to try it first? We will be happy to put together a France package for you, just send us a message to: wein@wine-love.de.
