Popular wine regions in France
Wine growing in France is number two in the world ranking after Italy. Nevertheless, French wine is usually traded higher than that from Italy. This is due to the distinctive taste of quality of life of French wines. Because wine in France is not just a drink, it is a way of life that you can taste. It is not for nothing that French wine is popular not only among wine connoisseurs, even occasional wine drinkers often reach for wines from France.
Wine from France: It’s not the size that counts, but the taste
In terms of the size of its vineyards, France ranks fourth in the world. France produces 40 million hectoliters of high-quality red and white wine annually from a vineyard area of about 800,000 hectares. This results in about 2900 different wines produced by far more winemakers. It would take about eight years to taste all the varieties of wine from France, if you drink a delicious glass of French red wine every evening.
Wine from France at lunch and dinner
In our society, anyone who drinks wine at lunchtime is often looked at askance and frowned upon. Not so in France, where it is normal to have a glass of wine with lunch. Because in its homeland, French wine is usually drunk only at lunch or dinner. You will never find yourself enjoying a glass of wine after a meal. Distinctive quality characterizes French wine and the red grape variety Merlot is the most famous. Red and rosé wines account for about 3/4 of French wine production.
Wine regions in France
Among the most popular wine regions in France is probably Bordeaux, which is located in the west of France and is famous for the red wine of the same name. I have put together an alphabetical overview of the most important wine-growing regions for you below.
- Wine-growing area Beaujolais covers approx. 23.00 ha and is popular for the grape varieties Gamay.
- Wine-growing region Bergerac covers approx. 12,000 ha and is popular for the grape varieties Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
- Bordeaux wine region covers about 120,000 ha and is popular for Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grape varieties.
- Burgundy wine region covers about 30,000 ha and is popular for Pinot Noir and Gamay grape varieties.
- Alsace wine region covers about 14,500 ha and is popular for Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir grape varieties.
- Jura wine region covers about 2,000 ha and is popular for Poulsard, Trousseau, Savagnin and Béclan grape varieties.
- Languedoc wine region covers about 290,000 ha and is popular for Grenache, Syrah, Mourvédre and Carignan grape varieties.
- Loire wine region covers about 70,000 ha and is popular for Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Pinot Noir and Malbec grape varieties.
- Provence wine region covers about 20,000 ha and is popular for Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvédre, Syrah and Tibouren grape varieties.
- Rhône wine region covers about 73,100 ha and is popular for Syrah, Marsanne, Mourvédre and Viognier grape varieties.
Famous red wine varieties from France
As in any country, quality levels of the respective wines are assigned in France. However, in France the wines are most strictly controlled, because each wine is assigned to a quality category. The quality certificate AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) denotes the highest quality of French wines and the quality certificate AOC (Appellation d’Origine Côntrolée) was awarded until 2009 only to red wines produced according to the terroir approach. Red wines may only carry such a certificate if they have been produced according to the specifications and comply with the guidelines of the respective region. There are a total of 307 wine-growing regions that bear the AOP and AOC quality labels. Red wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône, Loire and Provence are the French wines with the best awards.
French red wine varieties:
- Cabernet-Franc
- Cabernet-Sauvignon
- Carignan
- Carmenére
- Cinsault
- Gamay
- Malbec
- Marselan
- Merlot
- Mourvédre
- Négrette
- Niellucio
- Pinot Noir
- Syrah
- Tannat
Taste wine from France
Visit our online store or our wine store in Schlangenbad near Wiesbaden and choose a new wine from our wine selection!
In addition, exciting virtual wine tastings and wine tastings directly at the winemaker await you here at Wine-love.de, which we also offer as private events according to your taste. From time to time we also organize pop-up wine tastings with nice company in the wine shop in Schlangenbad. You are always best informed about all events on our channels on Facebook and Instagram.